


The Official D.I.C.E Logbook

by orphan_account



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Different Mastermind (Dangan Ronpa), Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Madoka Magica Fusion, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Talentswap (Dangan Ronpa), Alternate Universe-Circus, Alternate Universe-Legend of Zelda, Angel Wings, Angst, Breath of the Wild Spoilers, Canonical Character Death, Dialogue-Only, Disabled Character, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gen, Implied Relationships, Kid Fic, Love Across The Universe: Dangan Salmon Team, M/M, Past Character Death, Past Relationship(s), Phantom Thief AU, Poetry, Pre-Canon, Pre-Game Personalities (New Dangan Ronpa V3), YouTube, ouma month
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:26:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 21
Words: 58,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24485044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: (Series of One-Shots for OumaMonth)Nishishsi! Awww, that's too bad. Looks like you were trying to devel up some secrets about little ol' me. Well, I'm not gonna stop you from reading this if you want to. You're just not going to find what you were looking for. You're just gonna find thirty stories that have nothing to do with you, and everything to do with me! Or is that a lie?Good luck next time!!!!
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede/Oma Kokichi, Oma Kokichi & DICE, Oma Kokichi & Everyone, Oma Kokichi/Saihara Shuichi, Oma Kokichi/Yumeno Himiko
Comments: 69
Kudos: 116
Collections: Kokichi Ouma Month





	1. Game. Set. Match (Ouma-Centric)

**Author's Note:**

> As if I can't stop myself from entering more challenges. Hello everyone and welcome to another story that will not be a series but an actual 30 chapter story. I'm participating in Ouma Month this time around. So thank you so much to the moderators at Ouma Month for making this possible. Also thank you all for supporting me as I continue to jump from story to story and challenge from challenge. Every support helps. 
> 
> Tags will be updated as a chapter is released. That way I'm not tagging things that do not exist! Okay, let's have fun! 
> 
> To the purple gremlin, I salute.
> 
> Day 1 Prompt: Pregame Au/Modifications/Endings

Kokichi looked at his phone, bored as he leaned against the wall. His cheek ached miserably underneath the white patch of gauze. His stomach and ribs felt bruised, and every inhale felt like a sharp punch that was once more, hitting him in the lungs. Exhaustion folded in on his body, and all he wanted to do was sleep for days and days. He didn't want to be here, in a brightly lit lobby with fluorescent lights stabbing him in the eyes and paining the headache that was blossoming in his head. The bullies already made him hurt enough. Going through this torture wasn't going to solve fucking anything.

He was grateful that no one was coming up to him and talking to him either. Two people were standing in the lobby beside him. Well, sitting down actually. One had a baseball hat tugged over his eyes and was messing around with his phone. A Monokuma charm dangling from the cellphone. The other was politely averting her gaze, legs crossed, and her fingers tapping away rhythmically across her knee. Kokichi was grateful she didn't rap on any of the surfaces. He wasn't sure he could contain his annoyance at any sound that wasn't the click-clacking of the receptionist. 

After auditions, Kokichi was going straight home. He was going to nap, he was going to take a breather, and everything would be okay. He doubted he would get it anyway. He was only there on the off-hand chance that it actually would work, and he would get in. 

"So um...what were your guys' favorite seasons?"

If the brilliant golden-eyed boy had any brains, Kokichi wondered if he'd actually used them. Where in his mind did he think the woman and himself wanted to talk? 

Unfortunately, society taught them to be kind. The blonde girl was already talking. "I was a fan of the last season. I adored Amami-kun. I thought it was awesome that he sacrificed himself to play the game again."

"Yeah, he and Shirogane-san are said to be playing this season." The boy with the golden eyes grinned. His cheeks were heavy red, and a cold sweat was beaded around the forehead. Kokichi wondered if he was socially anxious. Why the fuck did he think that talking was going to alleviate anything? If anything, this was prolonging his torture. Kokichi rolled his eyes to himself. This kid was going to be the first one murdered, he could already call it.

Damn, and he was hoping that someone would murder him first. Maybe if his character was extra annoying...Kokichi hummed thoughtfully as he looked back at his phone. If he was annoying and good at it, perhaps he could get the golden-eyed boy to murder him? That was probably a dream. 

"I didn't like Shirogane-san, I was kind of disappointed she survived the game," the girl commented.

"She is kind of boring," the boy agreed, as though that would appease her. Oh, he was that kind of fan. The boy with the bright gold eyes was the fan that would switch sides and had no loyalties. It was whoever was talking to him that he'd cater to. Any ships that girl liked, he probably liked it too. There was no discourse or argument. A doormat if Kokichi had any thought. 

It would be a miracle in a fucking half if he managed to get it. If he got it and Kokichi didn't, then Dangnaronpa were sluts for attention whores, and that was that. Kokichi had no interest in trying to change himself to make himself look suitable for any camera or audition. The kid, though? Those two? They probably had a whole script in their heads about what they wanted the company to see them as.

Kokichi could bet that the boy would beg on his knees to suck a producer's dick, and the girl was probably going to make herself look like the next badass. No one was able to do that since season fifty. Hell, even the last season didn't have much of a badass unless they counted the Ultimate Guitarist. There was a reason why she lasted for as long as she did. Her death was so iconic, Kokichi was aching to see if 53 would be able to top it. He doubted it. If those two losers at the seats got in, then it would be even less likely.

"What about you?" The golden-eyed boy looked at him, his hat covering one of his eyes. He had dark rings and bags underneath them, Kokichi noticed. He was familiar with the look, he also had circles and bags underneath his. Only the bags under his eyes were from being depressed. The boy who was hyper-fixed on Danganronpa probably had those bags as a symbol of honor or something. "What was your favorite season?"

Kokichi thought about tossing a Byakuya Togami reference at him and asking him what made him believe that it was wise to talk to him. At the same time, he could perform a pretty good Nagito Komaeda impression too, but would that scare him or make him cum in his pants. Kokichi decided not to do either. They were going to wind up dead anyway if they all got in. There was really no point in trying to look nice. "I-I started last, last season."

"Really?" The girl looked miffed as she looked at him, giving him a once over. "You just liked that one season and thought this was your best chance at glory or something? Jesus, you make me sick. I keep telling people auditions should have more gatekeeping. Real fans know what they're getting themselves into, at least."

"I don't kn-know, are you looking to um to win, or are you want-wanting to die?" Kokichi bit back at her, and the girl blinked. "I don't particularly care if I win or if I die. Whatever makes it so that I'm not fucking bored."

"I want to commit murder." The boy cheerfully spoke up, and Kokichi felt all color go out of his face. The girl even looked horrified as she looked at the boy who spoke. Kokichi was reminded right then and there that not everyone was a suicidal maniac; some of them were psychopathic too. "I mean, I know that's insta-kill because I'm going to get caught, but...if I can make it at least entertaining, I want to be able to showcase that I can pull off at least something interesting!"

This boy, Kokichi's mouth quirked as he looked at him, this boy was indeed something fascinating wasn't he? "Wh...what's your name?"

"Shuichi Saihara." Shuichi grinned.

"I'm going to sit away from you then." The girl retorted. "Fucking freaks the both of you." 

Kokichi paid her no mind, but the boy immediately lost his expression. He tugged his hat down and suddenly curled into a ball. How on earth was this kid going to commit murder if someone's little comment got underneath his skin? Then again, wouldn't it be super ironic if the girl was killed by Shuichi because of it? Not that they were going to remember any of this anyway. Still, he doubted that the golden-eyed boy would forget a comment like that any time soon.

He was those kinds of kids that he read in the newspaper anyway. The type that is so kind and gentle and gets shit on time and time again. He walked over and sat down next to him, wincing at the pain. Shuichi's eyes flickered at him, concern evident in his eyes. "Tell me how you'd murder," Kokichi coaxed.

"I...well….I don't know yet." Shuichi admitted, "I don't know what kind of setting we'll be in."

That was a fair statement, Kokichi couldn't fault him for it. The scenario changed from season to season. The method of murders and the motives were ever-changing too. There was no way to figure out what crime would look like until they were in the game. Sure, Shuichi may have all those plans that were in his mind, but he couldn't plan for everything. "I-I see." Kokichi cleared his throat. His jaw ached. He wanted to just pass out. 

"Umm…" Shuichi nervously looked away and then looked back at him. Golden-eyes dancing all over him. Kokichi wondered if he'd forget what those eyes would look like when they were in the game. "You look...sick."

"I got j-jumped before I got here." Kokichi hummed. "Or may-maybe I'm just dicking, dicking around, and I think that if I look pitiful enough, they'll take me in." That was a persona he could do. He wouldn't be acting too much if he curled in on himself while auditioning. He was in pain, and his stomach did hurt. 

"I think you'll get in because you sound like a character they want," Shuichi said without hesitation.

"Y-you think so?" Kokichi's breath hitched wrong, and the pain went up to his chest and burned at his eyes. He blinked back the tears and tried to keep a shallower breath going. "I think Shuichi-chan will work just fine as a character too. Much better than the bitch that just left." He said the last part loudly but realized belatedly that she was already gone from the lobby. Aw, they must've called her to the audition room already. That was a shame. That's okay; he could taunt her in the game later. Maybe he could even make her cry.

"R-really?!" Shuichi brightened like a dog that was promised a treat. Kokichi felt his breath hitch again as he looked into the face that was staring right back at him. His eyelashes were long and pretty. His cheeks were pink and only made him look cute. Kokichi felt his heart flip. This really wasn't the time to be crushing on someone that he might be dying with in the next season. "Y-you really think so? I never got your name…"

"Kokichi Ouma." Kokichi grinned. "De Facto lead-leader of the mafia, shh though. Tha-that's a secret between you and you and me."

Shuichi giggled, and Kokichi's heart flipped again, and his stomach knotted painfully. "Th-that's cool," Kokichi forgot what it was like for someone to play along with his lies. With a small game. "I don't have anything interesting about me like that. Oh well...I stole a car once…"

"Really?!" Kokichi turned sharply to face the boy, and he winced and fell back into his seat when his ribs reminded him that he had been bruised and beaten. "That's so co-cool. I didn't know Shu-Shumai was a joyride!"

"Ouma-kun, are you okay?!" Shuichi completely bypassed the compliment, instead of looking at him with more concern. Kokichi hated that look. That look always seemed like a tasteless pity to him. It was a shame. He really thought the boy was going to be different. "I don't want you to get hurt worse. You look cute when you're like that...oh god, what am I saying… I'm sorry, I know I'm creepy."

Maybe Kokichi was wrong to judge so quickly. "What part eh what part of Danganronpa do you want to play?"

"You mean, what Ultimate?" Shuichi asked, but continued as though he never had to pause. "Detective!"

"Detec-detectives rarely murder, you-you really are fascinating. I hope to see what k-kind of murder you do. Hey, hey, you kn-know what?" Impulsively, Kokichi gave Shuichi a grin. "Shuichi-chan should murder me."

"Hahaha, maybe. I think I'll keep you alive though Ouma-kun. There's someone else I want to murder more."

Kokichi was going to call it and say that the girl was going to be murdered. He decided to bite back his tongue from saying so, "Well, I'll be sure to mourn you." 

The girl walked out of the room and headed past the lobby, sparing no look at them. Shuichi's name was called, and the detective-wannabe got up on his feet. "Later, Ouma-kun."

"Later, Shu-Shuichi-chan." Kokichi wheezed as he watched the golden-eyed boy leave.

Much later -when the game was over- Kokichi would be in his hospital bed rewatching the season for the first time. He would notice that Shuichi got his wish. He killed the girl brutally by pretending to be her friend and then outing her attempt to murder to the class.

Furthermore, Kokichi got his wish about being dead too...with more pain and the inability to walk as the scars that he'd forever be with. 


	2. Top 10 Moments of YouTube (Oumasai)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 2: YouTube Au/Games/Nostalgia 
> 
> Kokichi was coming up on his tenth year anniversary dealing with YouTube and all of its shenanigans, and what better way to celebrate than to showcase the highlights of his channel and the meaning behind them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much OumaMonth for Hosting this event! Thank you to those who left me kudos, comments, subscriptions, and bookmarks. I'm really happy that you guys are enjoying this. I appreciate every one of you. Please stay safe.

Kokichi sat in his editing studio, hands elbow on his desk and fingers laced. His chin rested on the fingered bridge as he stared at the bright computer screen. His fan behind him steadily wobbled, creating the white noise that he needed. He usually worked with music on and lofi playing in the background, but this required crucial thought and silence. The editing software stood like a blank canvas that would taunt a painter who was itching to create. He had thousands of ideas of how he wanted to celebrate the tenth year of being on YouTube, but no idea would take. 

The door of his room was creaked open, allowing orange light to stream through his darkroom like sunlight. He should turn on something brighter, but he was content with the hallway light and the L.E.D. lights that were colored a deep purple that was hanging on the edges of his ceiling. 

He could hear soft sounds of a T.V. playing in the living room, and he had half of the mind to shut his door and change the color of the L.E.D. fairy lights to something warmer. He thought about seeing if his fan could go any faster and make that wobbling noise louder. He knew that the last time he did that, the fan threatened to fall off the ceiling. He didn't need people to ruin whatever creative rut that he was in now. 

Creative rut. Kokichi typed in his YouTube URL and looked through the thousands of videos that he had created throughout the ten years. The buzzing noise in the back of his mind started to form an concept. What if...he looked at all of these videos and chose the ones that meant the most to him? Sentimental yes, but everyone was all about that lately, weren't they? The time machine, the reflection of how much the channel has grown, the friends made, and the friends lost. 

He could work with something like that, couldn't he? The concept was starting to form an idea. How long did he want this video to last? Enough to create a top ten best moments of his life. That meant hours and hours of scouring the videos and deciding the clips. That was fine.

The first one was simple too. It was one no one on YouTube ever saw in their lives and the one that made Kokichi start the race.

X

Hope's Peak may have dormitories, but Kokichi preferred to be home around his friends and family that he built from the ground up. He sat on the bed of a shared room, clothes strewn all over the floor, and his uniform haphazardly on the floor. The sweats and comfortable shirt hung on his lithe frame felt more humanizing than whatever the fuck that uniform was supposed to be. Kokichi Ouma wasn't owned by anyone or anything but himself. Fuck whoever thought uniforms were a good idea to distinguish himself from the crowd. All the uniforms would ever be was status symbols of sheep. He was just lucky he wasn't the only one that thought to customize his outfit. It just impressed him that the detective thought he could get away with it. Wearing a hat wasn't as subtle as wearing a necktie.

Not that it wasn't cute, but he was getting off the rails. In his hands were the best thing ever to be given to him by an upperclassman. Komaeda was just a year older than him and tended to have a...not so clear mindset on things. It was hard for Kokichi to keep up, but what wasn't hard was the fact that Komaeda handed him the camera.

Regardless, the first thing Kokichi needed to do was figure out how to work it. He knew from Ovetere that it was going to be more than just pressing the zoom in and zoom out and record. There were other things to consider, and it made Kokcihi's head hurt. Why his subordinate wasn't in Hope's Peak with him was beyond him. Sometimes Kokichi wondered if there was favoritism in play.

Lucky Students, for example. 

"Ouma-sama-san, what are you doing with the camera?" Shuffle chirped as Kokichi fiddled with the camera. It wasn't anything impressive; the quality was going to be shit, but as long as he gave it Ouverte at the end of the day, it shouldn't matter. His tongue was poking out at the side of his cheek as his eyes narrowed, trying to get it to set up. 

Kokichi glanced up from his work to his pigtailed subordinate. She was usually always the first one by his side and never the last. Much to anyone's surprise, she was actually the youngest member of their fold. "I'm glad you asked, Shuffle-chan!" He held the camera up for her inspection, "We're going to videotape ourselves, and we're going to use it to bait the police to come after us! They're useless without evidence, you know, and we need to help them as much as we possibly can!"

"Oooh, a prank video!" Shuffle examined the camera and started immediately to mess with the settings. "We could do the saran wrap doorway at Hope's Peak and watch the Ultimates run face-first into nothing!"

It terrified him a little at how well Shuffle could read his mind. He said nothing about the prank that Komaeda had conveniently hinted for him to do. Sometimes he wondered if Shuffle hung too much around him, or visa versa. Regardless, he reached up and snatched the camera from her hands and groaned, "Shuffle-chan!!! The settingssssss…."

"You're hopeless with the camera! I made it better!" It was out of focus, and it took Kokichi five seconds too late to realize that she had zoomed all the way in, and that was why everything was looking closer than it was supposed to. He grumbled as he went and fixed the settings. "OUAMA-SAMA-SAN'S MEAN!!!" She shouted, and Kokichi tossed the camera to the side of the bed, tackling her to the ground and making her scream louder as he poked and prodded her ribs.

His gang was used to their antics. They took their time in coming up the stairs to see what was going on. Trick and Solo, who wasn't used to being left out, immediately pounced. Kokichi screamed as Solo grabbed his sides and forced him down to submission, and Trick dragged Shuffle away from the scene, not giving her a chance to get onto her knees and get up from the ground. 

Never let it be said that Kokichi didn't know how to fight tickles with tickles. The whole group dissolved from watching to the sidelines to panting and worn out the mess, the tears beading and falling from the corners of their eyes, and aching ribs for their rewarded efforts. 

Kokichi laid on the ground, aching and sore with bubbled laughter still coming from his chest. He looked over to see Honor reaching onto the bed and taking the camera before tossing it over to their more artistic member. He immediately shot up into a sitting position. "Ouverte-cchaaannn!"

"Yeah?" Overte asked as he took the camera from Honor, not even questioning. Honor sometimes did just grab things that were near and handed them to the other nearest member. There were times where Kokichi would suddenly find his hands full with an object Honor had found and had no idea what to do with it. 

"I demand you to show me how to use that camera. I have a prank tomorrow that I want to film." Kokichi ordered and then softened his tone. "Please."

"Sure." Overte wouldn't have said no, even if Kokichi wasn't polite about it. He started to fiddle with the camera. "Jesus, what were you trying to do? The settings are all off."

"Shuffle-chan's fault!"

"It was not my fault!" Shuffle cried from the other end of the room, just on the outskirts of the group. She sat up, her pigtails falling apart around her face. "I just fucked around with the zoom!"

"She was messing with it!" Kokichi immediately burst into crocodile tears. "Shuffle-chan broke it!"

"She didn't break it," Overte said calmly, not even looking up from his project. Kokichi normally would throw a fit if someone was ignoring him, but he didn't do that very often with his group. With a couple of minutes of fiddling, he handed the camera back to Kokichi. "Just worry about learning how to zoom in and out properly. Everything else, I did the best that I could, but that's not a high-quality camera."

"That's fine. The prank's not even that high quality to deserve anything better," Kokichi replied haughtily.

"Speaking of high quality, want to see an example of how bad it is?" Overte asked as he tossed the camera towards Kokichi. Kokichi snatched it out of the air and looked to see that the camera had recorded the entire tickle fight. 

"SHUFFLE-CHAN RECORDED US WITHOUT PERMISSION!" Kokichi shouted, and everyone dissolved back into laughter as Shuffle tried to squeak her defense again.

They still held it over each other to this very day. They'd mention the camera, and Shuffle would squeak and try to wiggle her way out of it, trying to showcase all of the good that it had done. Kokichi used the tickle fight footage as a private viewing video when things got hard, and he didn't know what he was doing. Still, he also used it to practice editing. Ouverte did most of the work, as he habitually would, but Kokichi didn't like just tossing everything on to his desk. He wanted to be able to help. Admittedly it meant that he got more headaches and migraines than he wished to due to the lights and waterfall of information, but Kokcihi deemed that they did okay.

X

The prank had gone without a hitch too. It was recorded, and the file wouldn't work through email. Kokichi decided to say fuck it and toss it on youtube so he could at least share the URL. However, just like that, it caught on like wildfire. Everyone at Hope's Peak figured out that D.I.C.E. was more than just an evil organization, hellbent on stealing from the rich or the poor. It caused Shuichi to start prodding the pranks with the question of ' is that going to be recorded'? For a boy as cute as Shuichi, he was more camera shy than Kiiboy, and that was saying something.

However, pranks worn him out too. Kokichi did about twenty to fifty prank videos during that period, riding on the high of the ego-boost and of the attention. They weren't just one-man solo quests either. They pranked convenience stores, people, on in the city to play a game with dyed water balloons. They pranked the police with a call and an impromptu donut run (it was a near arrest too, but it was out of Hope's Peak's best interest to keep them out from jail), it was all in good fun. Moments like those were exactly what D.I.C.E. was about in one aspect. The other was that Kokichi couldn't handle being bored. Pranks were fun to videotape, but Kokichi didn't just want to be known for his prowess. He wanted to be known for other things too. That and it was around the time pranking videos were starting to become famous. Not the kind of pranks Kokichi appreciated either. The kind that left people crying. The kind that left people looking more like bullies. 

He continued to prank people, but he never went back to the community. He left just as he knew things were going to get toxic. Many others who followed him, understood the reasoning without him having to say so. He reported videos he thought were dehumanizing and reminded people on his twitter that the goal was to make people laugh.

Kokichi never expected anyone to follow his lead. D.I.C.E. was one thing, but his followers understood. He had to put out more internet fires than he wanted to because they got overzealous. Still, nothing ever made him look terrible. 

However, that was back when there was another rising that he thought could be interesting to do. He knew it would be social suicide, but he had to try it.

He challenged the Ultimate Gamer.

"A race?" Chiaki asked as she tilted her head at Kokichi. He had barged into the classroom during lunch with no regard for who was around him. He found her and immediately got to her desk, hands clenched in fists and stars shining in his purple eyes as he said the first sentence that came out of his mouth. Chiaki, to her credit, didn't even seem phased that he had her cornered. Instead, she placed a finger against her chin. She looked up at the ceiling as though the answer was written there. "A single-player game and it's a race to the finish? A hundred percent through the game?" She continued.

"Yep! We don't even have to do it for an entire day. We can do it by episodes." Kokichi explained. "Thirty minutes on the timer, and we race to see how far we get. The episode ends, and the episode starts right where we ended!" He suddenly looked at his nails. "Of course, I'm not going to blame Nanami-chan if she thinks this is too much for her."

"Hmm...it could be a lot of fun, I think." Chiaki mused thoughtfully. "I never done a race before, it sounds like it could be fun. If we wanted to make it more interesting, we could try to Livestream it. But you're more of a YouTube account, aren't you Ouma-kun? I don't know how to edit videos...I upload all mine raw." She suddenly dragged her hood up and hid her face. "I don't want you to do too much work on my account."

"I have my subordinates helping me, don't fret," Kokichi said, with a wave of his hand. "I'm thinking a game that will drag people in by the thousands."

"Final Fantasy would be your best bet, I think, but you could also play Resident Evil or Silent Hill if you wanted that niche." Chiaki hummed, once more curling her finger against her chin and looking up at the ceiling. "Legend of Zelda is cliche, but it is good. It brings a lot of people to the platform, I think."

"I'll let you decide, and you tell me. I have a large gaming collection, so as long as it's not something obscure, I probably have it." Kokichi shrugged, "So are you going to challenge me, Nanami-chan?"

"I accept your challenge, Ouma-kun." Chiaki placed a hand over her heart, and she gave him a happy smile. "Let's have lots of fun together."

Later that day: "You know Ouma-kun," the amusement came crystal clear as Kokcihi's side got a game over. Her Mario character was running on the beams getting many of the gold coins as she possibly could get without falling, "one would say that wasn't your best-made plan."

"What falling? Pfffft, you just don't know what I plan to do with this!" Kokichi teased on the other end. "Maybe me teleporting back to the beginning and out of the scenario was a strategy of mine."

"If that was your strategy, it wasn't a good one," Chiaki laughed.

Kokichi smiled as he watched the video play. He could tell that he was struggling to keep up with the gamer and that he wasn't going to win the race. They got so popular with the crowd that they made highlights and blooper reels to showcase some of the not so glorious times that they had on screen. 

That went on for more than just five years. Even when Kokichi moved on to other projects, the racing still continued. His gaming library was just as massive as Chiaki's now, and so was his knowledge of capture cards and graphic design. He had to ask Chihiro to make him an emulator for a lot of the games for them to play, but it was still to this day one of his most successful running series. 

Kokichi was proud of that. He was pleased that he was able to have other people race with him besides Chiaki. What started as a cult following began to boom as more and more people were growing interested in what he was doing. Gaming and pranks? What more could anyone ask for?

X

It started with talking to Sonia during lunch with the 77th class and her interest in true crime. While Kokichi was in no-way someone that would appreciate serial killers, his crush at the time was invested. It didn't help either that said crush was invested in horror stories as well. Less for the suspense and violence, and more of the sheer culture behind it. For an April's Fool day joke, Kokichi allowed his crush free reign of his channel for that day.

"Ouma-kun, are you sure?" Shuichi asked as he tugged on his hat nervously as Kokichi ambushed him in the library. The shy boy had a bone bracelet that was freely dangling on his wrist. If anyone bothered to look closely at his shoe locker, they'd see that Angie's pictures of the macabre were plastered all over the door. It wasn't that Shuichi was dangerous or liked murder. He just had more of an emo/goth interest in things that Kokichi fucking could understand.

Then again, he liked vsco, so really, who was he to talk? "Yeap! My beloved gets to have the password to my channel only for today so long as I get the password to his channel! Fair's fair, Saihara-chan!"

"I don't know...my channel's not all that popular. You could do whatever, and no one's really going to notice."

Kokichi made a soft noise in the back of his throat. He was well aware of the cult following that Shuichi had going on. Not everyone wanted to know how to find animal bones, but he was also good at animal tracking. He had to be if he was saving lost cats and dogs and alligators all the damn time. Not only that, but Shuichi also taught how to make flower crowns and would, on occasion, read off creepypasta stories. He wouldn't touch true crime, nor would he talk about any of the investigations that he did. He tried very hard to keep his Ultimate and his YouTube life separate.

Meanwhile, Kokichi flew whatever flag he could if it meant that all eyes were on him. He had been shocked still when he discovered that Saihara was one of the 10,000 subscribers that followed him. For all of the feet-dragging, no way Jose, was he going to join his organization, Shuichi certainly didn't know how to keep his word. Either that, or he honestly thought that Kokichi didn't watch all of his subscribers' videos and tried to comment on every single one that he could find. His own D.I.C.E. members helped him with that. 

He saw the back and forth between Shuichi and Solo. He almost died and went to heaven when he saw that he was invited to their private discord too. 

Back to the topic at hand, Shuichi was fidgeting and looking as though he wanted to be anywhere but in the school's entrance. "Jeez, I didn't think Shumai was going to be so boring," Kokichi muttered as he looked at his nails, a hand on his hip. "You'd think for a minute that the detective would let loose and have some fun. I'm giving you free access to D.I.C.E. confidential files, and you're worried about your channel." He immediately pressed his finger against his lips and got into Shuichi's space, watching him cower. "You think that I'm going to do something. Sai-hara-chan?"

"N-no, that's not it at all!" Shuichi waved his hands a little to get Kokichi to back off. "I'm just not going to have the effect that you want, that's all. M-miu might…"

"Miu doesn't have a channel. She only watches YouTube. Now, if I was going to prank her, I'd use her porn account." Kokichi listened to Shuichi squawk indignantly. "What?! If she's so into robot porn, then she needs to broaden her horizons! I was just going to make her watch and-"

"Please don't finish that sentence. I get it." Shuichi let out a deep breath, and Kokichi rocked on the balls of his feet, watching patiently. "Okay. I guess I can….figure out how to prank you. I don't know what I'm doing, though."

"Whatever you do, Shumai, I'm sure it'll be excellent. Now I have to go and see if I can't find out what Himimiko's youtube account is. Laters!!!!"

Of course, he didn't doubt that was why Shuichi decided to read the Ben Drowned story on his youtube for the prank. He supposed it was well-timed, as he was racing Chiaki through at the time and hadn't even dropped a trailer for it. The subscribers of course immediately caught on to the prank, but also kicked themselves later when the video of the race dropped. 

Meanwhile, Kokichi had gone onto Shuichi's channel and not only changed the layout, the banner, and the icon, oh no. Kokichi decided to put up a 2-hour long video of the Nyan Cat. A long-dead meme that no one remembered, and never forgotten after that. He also had posted a video trying to analyze the Nyan cat as well, dressed like Shuichi and everything. So maybe he went over the limit about how many videos he was going to put up on the detective's channel, but it was all in good fun. The icon should've given it away though honestly that it was a prank. 

Trololo.

The said Nyan-Cat analysis was still up on Shuichi's channel too. So was the story of Ben Drowned on Kokichi's. There was no way Kokichi wasn't going to toss those into the top ten highlights of his YouTube career. Kokichi rubbed his eyes and looked at the bottom of his screen. It was nearing midnight, and his eyes were starting to burn. He also had run out of Panta.

Getting up was a chore, but the moment he stood on his legs and stretched did he feel much better. All those snaps and crackles were wonders and relieving. He walked into the kitchen, noting that the bedroom was completely black, and the door was closed. He didn't doubt that Shuichi left the light in the hallway on and just blocked the rest of by shoving a cloth underneath the door. He had half of the mind to crawl into bed with him and annoy him awake or just to rest against him if only for a moment.

However, Kokichi was like Shuichi. When he had an idea in his head, there just wasn't a reason to stop it. Shuichi would chase after the criminology degree as if his life depended on it, and Kokichi….well...college wasn't for him. YouTube was so far doing so well, and he didn't feel the need to change it yet. He was well established, and he's been through the ups and downs. It all depended on whether or not he wanted to change platforms or risk losing his income.

At the moment, at this particular moment, those worries didn't need to even grace his mind. The kitchen light angrily blinded Kokichi and made the burn in his eyes worse. He pulled the fridge open and pulled out a bottle of Panta before letting the fridge's door swing close. A picture on the refrigerator was hung with a customized magnet that Angie had made them. The magnet was a stretched canvas painting of a fox with a flower crown on it. 

The picture was from a camping trip that Rantaro, Korekiyo, Shuichi, himself, and Kaito had decided to do on a whim.

Now that he thought about it, did he have that documented somewhere? Back when he thought to do a vlog was a good idea? He went back into the cold studio and decided to flick on the lights for a moment, just to get himself to stay away. The minute he looked at his computer, though, he felt his eyes strain, and his body protested at the mere thought of sitting down again.

He turned off the lights if at least to trick his body that he was going to get comfortable and turtled up in his chair. He scrolled through his channel again, trying to find...there it was.

X

Kokichi's clothes were starting to feel like wet plastic on his skin. The cloth tried to mold into his form like a fabricated hug that was uncomfortable and concerning. The water bottle in his hand was still half-full, and Kokichi was wary about drinking all of it. Rantaro had spoken in the first half of the impromptu adventure vlog that Kokichi decided to make about the importance of water safety. Even though they were nowhere near a deserted area, it was still essential to keep an eye on the water. Small sips throughout the journey. Smaller if need be. The humidity was the worst of it. The sticky atmosphere and the nats and the mosquitoes, Kokichi couldn't believe that he thought that this was a good idea. He was a city boy by nature.

Shuichi, on the other hand, who is a city boy himself, was doing just fucking fantastic. Sweat dripped uncomfortable down his neck, but he wasn't trying to adjust and move his clothes around like Kokichi was. If anything, the most he ever saw Shuichi do was take off his hat, wipe his brow, and move on. Kokichi would bet anything that his water bottle was a little more full than Kokichi was. 

"I'm really sorry that I dragged you guys into this. I'd do it myself, but I don't know this area." Shuichi immediately apologized, barely breathless.

"Hey, no sweat!" At least Kokichi could take pride in the fact that Kaito was much worse than he was. His skin was already reasonably red, and his hair lost the rocket-shape a long time ago, turning into a messy, untrimmed mop on his head. He had fine cuts on and scratches on his arm from the last time he ran into a low hanging branch. "Anything for my sidekick!"

"It's been a while since I walked around my own backyard." Rantaro agreed from his position in the front. He had binoculars hanging from his neck, and a map unfolded in his grip. Korekiyo made a soft hum in agreement, peering over Rantaro's shoulder at the map. Korekiyo was the only one that wasn't sweating bullets but who was also still wrapped up like a mummy and wore long, thick clothing. Kokichi wanted to faint from heatstroke just from looking at him. "I'm so used to going around different countries that this is a nice change of pace. Do you know how far the trail she was when she was lost, Saihara-kun?"

"Uncle said that we should come across yellow police tape," Shuichi stopped on the trail and started looking at the surroundings. Kokichi unscrewed his water bottle and also took in the sights.

Green. Fucking green. Everywhere was green, and Kokichi hissed when he felt something bite him on the arm. He slapped his skin, a little more forcefully than he should. The misquote was smeared across his hand like so many others. The small droplet of blood was enough to warrant another misquote to come dangerously close. He quickly got rid of that one too. "I'm being eaten alive over here! Can we keep going? Please? Faster we're done, the faster we can take a shower?!"

"You wanted to come," Rantaro quipped back. "No complaints from the peanut gallery."

"You would think that Ouma-kun's own behavior would deter any mosquito or gnat from wanting a taste of him." Korekiyo mused, "I think they knew that if they went after him enough, he'd break."

"AAAH Shiny-kun's being MEAN!" Kokichi complained immediately, his voice rising and echoing. Bouncing from tree to tree until it faded in the background. Kokichi stood stock still at the sound as everyone whirled on him to glare or to give him a pained look of "God why." 

"Jesus hell, will you shut up?!" Kaito immediately charged over to Kokichi, and before Kokichi could defend himself, Kaito grabbed him under his arm and started to rub his knuckles hard against his head. "We are on an investigation, you dumbass!"

"You're not helping matters either, Momota-kun." Korekiyo sighed softly, as though he was already suffering. "In any case, we should hasten our trip." He looked at Rantaro. "Night quickly approaches, and if we are stuck in the forest, we will have to wait until daybreak to begin again."

"Thankfully, I thought about that," Rantaro patted his backpack. He had been all geared up in a hiker fashion. "It'll be a bit cramped, but I do have a tent."

"Should we take watch too while we're at it? Oh, like medieval times, where we have to keep a fire going!" Kokichi asked as he finally managed to shove himself out from Kaito's grip.

Rantaro just laughed while everyone else suffered in silence. "I don't think we need to go that far, Ouma-kun. But if you wanted to take watch, I guess it'll be up to the Supreme Leader to do it first, yeah?"

Kokichi doubted he was going to get sleep anyway. Bugs and getting eaten alive were not his friends, and the forest was already weird during the day time. He couldn't imagine what it would look like at night. That was if they were stranded, though. He really hoped that with Rantaro's navigation skills, as well as Korekiyo's combined, they'd be in and out of the damn forest in a jiffy.

Kaito went back and immediately threw his arm around Shuichi's shoulder, done with bothering Kokichi for a moment. "Don't you fret, Shuichi. We got your back. So, yellow police tape, right? What made her lost, you know?"

"Her sister said that they were walking the trail, and it was about fifteen minutes before they heard her scream," Shuichi explained. "They turned around and found nothing. They left the trail and tried to search for her, but nothing happened. It happened fast. We could literally be running into anything right now. I have a theory of my own, but…"

"Worse comes to worst, we best prepare ourselves for whatever we may see." Korekiyo agreed softly. "Let us hope for whatever is best."

Kokichi turned on his camera and slowly panned across the forest. "And this is why if anyone asks why I don't leave the city much, this is why." He grumbled into the camera. "Who the fuck lives in nothing but woods and bugs ? Don't get me started on the goddamn nats and...ouch!" Another mosquito. "Gggggrrrr...if I get sick because mosquitoes think I'm sweet, I'm blaming all of you."

"Next time, don't come then!" Kaito bitched back, as Rantaro merely laughed. 

"Ouma-kun used bug spray though, a good amount of it. He shouldn't be getting attacked as he is." Shuichi frowned as though this was just another mystery to be solved. Kokichi subtly zoomed into Shuichi's thinking face. "I think it's from all the sweets and Panta you drink."

"Aww! Saihara-chan thinks I'm sweet," Kokichi gushed teasingly, but Shuichi wasn't rising to the bait.

"Ouma-kun, you might want to reapply the bug spray. Otherwise, you really might get sick, or at least uncomfortable." Shuichi shrugged off his own backpack and started rummaging through it. 

"No need, detective, I have my own." Kokichi had an excellent few cans in his backpack just for the very reason that he hated bugs. Mosquitoes and otherwise. 

"Hey, Ouma-kun, can you do me a favor and toss me your bug spray?" Rantaro requested.

"Did Amami-chan forget to pack his?" Kokichi questioned as he obeyed, putting his water bottle between his thighs to hold it as he reached for his backpack. He unzipped it and rummaged through it for a moment, the clinking of metal on metal catching everyone's attention. 

"Ouma-kun, what is in your bag?!" Shuichi couldn't help but ask.

"An ax." Kokichi deadpanned instantly, "and a hunting knife. We are in a prime spot for a murder to happen, after all, you know." 

"An ax wouldn't be your best murder weapon, but I appreciate the aesthetic choice." Korekiyo quipped back.

"Jesus fuck you two." Kaito gave Kokichi and Korekiyo a disapproving look. "Seriously, Ouma, what the hell."

"It's just like...three or four cans of bug spray." Kokichi defended. "And pepper spray."

"Why do you have _pepper spray_ ?" Kaito looked confused.

"Actually, that's not a bad move," Rantaro mused as Kokichi finally took out a can and tossed it towards the direction of Rantaro's voice. He didn't look to see if it was caught or not, but judging that no one was yelling in pain, Kokcihi deemed that he either made target or hit the ground. "Uh...Ouma-kun, can I see another one of your cans?"

"Is it empty?" Kokichi couldn't believe that. He was pretty confident he left home with a full can. Half-empty maybe, but empty? He didn't question it as he tossed another bottle. 

Another long pause. "Ouma-kun all of these are expired, about a year or two ago."

"Are you SERIOUS?!" Kokichi shrieked.

"Oh, that explains a lot," Shuichi mused, and Kaito burst into laughter. "Ouma-kun here. Mine isn't." Shuichi went back into his bag and tossed the bug spray at him. "I know it's about….hours late now...but it should help um....not get you more eaten than you already are."

"Well, that's one subordinate that's going to be sent off to swim with the fishies," Kokichi grumbled as he took the can from Shuichi and started spraying himself down religiously. The sudden relief of the cool mist the spray brought that helped with the heat, but his skin was once more sticky and uncomfortably so. This was going to be another ten showers when he got back. He was going to make Trick and Deuce pay for giving him the bug spray. They told him that they had used it before when they went camping. Kokichi didn't even fucking think to ask them  the last time they camped  was or if they even _went._

"Now now, they probably didn't know that bug spray could be less potent after a certain amount of time," Rantaro assured. Ever the peacemaker. Kokichi was still going to be planning on making them pay for it regardless, though. He wanted to itch and scratch. He wanted to soak in a river. He was fairly certain if he found a stream, Kokichi was going to jump into one the minute he saw it.

The day progressed into evening, coloring the forest with a dark silhouette and obscuring the trail. Shuichi worried that the police tape was never put up, to begin with. It was agreed to just set up camp and see where the m orning took them, whether it was to continue on or to turn around. 

Rantaro and Korekiyo worked on the tent, Kokichi measured out the rations, and Shuichi and Kaito built a fire. Before long, the camp was sunk into a deep dark abyss save for the orange glow of the campfire. The conversation was getting boring and at a lull.

Of course, it meant ghost stories, of having a sudden idea of taking the picture. Kokichi kept the vlog even though he swore he'd never do another adventure vlog again. Apparently, the viewers thought it was hysterical that Kokichi also thought about going, to begin with, and was such a wimp. 

They didn't find the girl, but they found evidence. Shuichi cracked the case in two days, and Kyoko Kirigiri took over from there. 

X

Kokichi leaned back into the chair, closed his eyes, and let himself rest for a little bit after editing that into the story. It hadn't been his favorite vlog. He took the camera for both crime scene purposes and for fun. He polished that vlog laboriously, keeping most of the information to the bug spray problem and the campfire. No one really knew about the reasons behind it. Kokichi gave Shuichi the authentic copy when they came across the evidence, and it helped them and Kyoko immensely. It hadn't been the most thrilling trip in the end, but...it was one that most of his viewers remembered because of the moments in between.

Kokichi lived for the moments in between. Not everything was dark and heavy like that. He rubbed his eyes and slowly got himself back into editing position. 

If they liked the one with the camping and being eaten alive by mosquitoes, he already knew that the other top scene was going to be. It was the only time that Gonta willingly appeared on video too. 

April's Fool Day that backfired.

X

"You know people are terrified of bugs," Kokichi told Gonta while they walked through the courtyard. Well, while Gonta was walking through the courtyard. Kokichi, on the other hand, had managed to wangle him into giving him a piggyback ride on his shoulders. Childish and immature as it could be, Kokichi knew that everyone else was jealous because they weren't small and short like he was. He could get carried around all day every day. Everyone else was too tall and weighty and had to bear the burden of walking on their own two feet. Too bad, so sad for them.

"Friends are afraid of bugs? Bugs are harmless! Bugs do not attack you unless you attack them first." Gonta mused thoughtfully, "Maybe friends don't understand bugs intentions, and need to be taught."

"You think so?" Kokichi asked curiously, getting his face into Gonta's, peering at him from upside down. "I think it'll be smart to show them what you're working on for your exam."

"Gonta thought practicals were secret." Gonta gave Kokichi a disapproving look. "Gonta does not like Kokichi's method of trying to get Gonta to cheat."

"Aw, it's not cheating. How can we cheat at practical that's what I want to know. It's showcasing your Talent to the extreme! Who here talks to bugs besides you?" Kokichi pouted.

"Gundham talks to creatures." Gonta pointed out.

"Reeaaallllyy?" Kokichi recalled the man that was in the 77th class. He talked to him on occasion. He was overdramatic in his evil persona, but Kokichi admired the flair and dedication. He was going to have to make a mental note to actually bug him later. Maybe there could be something neat. "But you really think that the Overlord of Ice might take over your exam? WAHAAAAAAAA TANAKA-CHAN'S BEING MEAN TO-"

"No!" Gonta immediately tried to hush Kokichi, panicking. "Gonta is not being hurt. Gundham has not hurt Gonta. Kokichi, don't cry? Please don't cry. Gonta is okay! Gonta is glad that Kokichi cares for Gonta."

"Maaaaaannn, I don't care about it at all," Kokichi grumbled. "So maybe not for the practical, but is there a way to show off something? Oh, I know! What if we had an introductory class! A meet and greet! Everyone gets to hold a bug and gets used to it under your care! So long as Gonta's around, no mean bug is going to hurt our friends, right?"

"Bugs are friends." Gonta agreed. "Gonta likes this idea. Gonta has plans now." He lifted Kokichi from his shoulders and got him down gingerly on the ground. Sometimes, it was mind-boggling to Kokichi that Gonta would be so gentle. If it was anyone else, they wouldn't care if he landed on his feet and felt the shock go up to his legs. 

Kokichi pressed a finger to his cheek as he watched Gonta jog off as fast as he possibly could. There was an itch in the back of his mind that maybe this was a bad idea, but he shrugged it off. Gonta wouldn't do anything too weird. He was too much of a gentleman. He probably was going to figure all of this out, and it was going to be the most super uneventful thing ever.

On impulse the next day, Kokichi brought his camera to school. He wanted Mahiru to take a look at it and see if he needed to update it or get it modified. So far, it was working great, but he knew that the battery life was wearing down faster than he could keep up. Even though he'd never admit it aloud, he was a little attached to the thing. It had been such a spur of the moment grab that to see it dying, it broke his heart a little. They went on so many adventures together, it was hard to grasp getting a new one. It meant trying to sit down and figure out all of the settings again. 

His YouTube channel was bringing in money too. He had enough to get a new camera if he wanted to. It wasn't the issue. With the funds splitting off to costs of rent, keeping his family afloat, and making sure they had food on the table, combined with everyone's hardships and gains, there was enough left over to start making a new Christmas Fund,  a College Fund for some of the members of his group that was graduating high school soon.  Graduating high school. This camera better not die until that happened, Kokichi would cry and cry and-

He suddenly felt himself get yanked by the scarf, and before he could get his feet back underneath him, it was taken away. "Gonta! Let me go!" 

"No can do! Kokichi told Gonta this idea, so Gonta knows that Kokichi would like this too!"

Oh no.

_ No. _

"Gonta, I have to work on my own exam. It's super, duper important!" Kokichi reached behind him and felt that Gonta actively kept his hand around the knot of his scarf. There was no way he could just slip himself out. "Come on, you big brute, let me go!"

"Gonta knows Kokichi is lying. Kokichi is just worried about bugs too. Kokichi wants to make bug friends!"

No that was the last thing Kokichi ever wanted in his _life._

Of course, he didn't get much of a say as he was thrown unceremoniously into the Etymologists lab.

He felt a chill go down his spine as he looked at the glass cages that had the bugs delicately pinned to the boards underneath them. Okay, this...this isn't bad. Put on a facade, false a smile. There he goes. It felt good to have a cover back on. It helped that everyone else was looking at each other with curiosity. Kokichi had been the last one to be found. Damn.

"Do you know anything about this, Ouma-kun?" Kaede asked nervously. "Gonta came up to me and picked me up and dragged me here. He said something about...a friendly meet and greet with the bugs? Is he...trying to practice for his exam?"

"I want absolutely nothing to do with this," Maki sighed from her position. She didn't look too thrilled, and Kokichi wondered what her exam would be. Had to be murder. There really was no way around it unless they were going to be kind and showcase her other so-called talent. 

"Nishishi! What makes you think that?" Kokichi held his camera up. "Gonta asked me to videotape this. So maybe you're right."

"Oh, good. So it's not-"

"Gonta is sorry that friends are uncomfortable. Gonta didn't know." Gonta immediately cut Kaede off and started walking towards the cages with purposeful steps. Kokichi stepped away, the camera turned on, just in case. Even if it turned out boring, well...at least he tried to catch something exciting happening inside Hope's Peak. "Gonta will introduce you to new friends, Gonta promises."

" So how are we gonna do it, man?" Kaito asked, ever rolling with the sheer weirdness that this was. "Is it just look at the cages, and you tell us a bit?"

"The best way to make friends is to be with friends." Without further ado, Gonta unlatched the cage.

Kokichi had never s een a bunch of Ultimates freak out the way that they did. The moment that Gonta opened the cages, a bunch of...bees? Beetles? Bugs? Definitely flying bugs-came out of the cage and started to fly around the room with buzzing. Kokichi felt his stomach drop to the floor as he moved from the craziness that was ensuing. Everyone shrieked as the bugs flew and surrounded the students. Kokichi unceremoniously dropped the camera and was trying to scurry up a damn wall to get away from the scene.

Shuichi took no time at all to faint. Himiko, as lethargic as she was, just didn't care about the bugs that were crawling all over her and was slowly starting to become engulfed by them. Tenko, needing to be her knight in shining armor, immediately tried to save her. Korekiyo plastered himself against the wall. He stayed out of the way of the rest of the panicking students. Rantaro even stood nearby, looking not at all perturbed by the scene.

"Uh, oh!" Angie sing-song. "Kami-sama is not pleased that some of these bugs do not have the beauty that shines like the butterflies. It is such a shame that all of these bugs a-" 

It was hysterical to catch Angie getting a bug in her mouth on film. Still, it was also hysterical to see that she could pull it out and casually flick it off of her as if it was no big deal. Kaede looked like she was about near tears.

It took a while for the bugs to be collected back into their cages. The girls to lecture Gonta about what it means to be a gentleman. Feeling bad that Shuichi hadn't recovered yet, Kokichi immediately dragged himself over towards where the fallen detective was.

"You okay there, Shumai?"

Shuichi gave the camera a deadpanned look, "Kokichi, camera off."

"No can do, beloved! I have to make sure that this is all on camera. You know, for the practical!"

Shuichi groaned softly as he got himself up. "Gonta-kun, what-"

"No, this is not for the exam! Gonta told Kokichi that already. Kokichi said that friends were scared of bugs!" Gonta protested, and Kokichi felt all color drain as all 14 students immediately turned to a scowl. Even Rantaro's face was scary. "So Kokichi told Gonta to help make a greet an-"

"KOKICHI!" 

"OUMA!"

Kokichi never ran so hard and fast out of a situation in his life. It wasn't till much later did Shuichi even bother to give him the camera back. Which had stopped recording when Kiriumi had tripped over it, resulting in him getting a new camera anyway.

X

Speaking of Gundham, Kokichi furrowed his brows as he started to scroll through his channel again. He could've sworn that he had done something with the Ultimate Breeder. He was beginning to get tired and drained. This was taking up more time than he wanted it to, but he was dedicated now. Absolutely determined to get this done. At least he wasn't doing a voice-over or anything fancy with the editing. Just a short little introduction, the countdown on the side of the screen, and trying to make it as awesome as he could get. He could hear someone shuffling down the hall, and Kokichi paused, taking off his headphones as he listened to the apartment. 

For a moment there, he thought he heard things, but then he saw the door creak, and Shuichi poked his head in. Dark rings under his eyes, and his hair all bedhead and spikey. Sleepy Shuichi was a fantastic Shuichi in Kokichi's eyes. However, Kokichi's eyes were burning and dry. Any moment he was going to collapse from the sheer exhaustion.

"Kokichi, are you still up?"

"Why Shumai, I'm glad you asked!" Kokichi's smile didn't stretch quite right on his face. "I'm in the process of owning an emp-"

"If you're going to lie, can you make it more believable early in the morning?" Shuichi questioned as he stepped further into his studio without an invite. Kokichi pouted but allowed Shuichi to come closer. He draped himself over Kokichi's shoulders, and Kokichi leaned against the hold, feeling the warmth seep into his skin and trying to call him into slumber. "Editing? You haven't made a video recently…"

"This, beloved, is a documentary of the last ten years of me ruling D.I.C.E.," Kokichi explained to him. "Ten long, beautiful years."

Shuichi blinked a few times before understanding started to dawn on him. Kokichi couldn't blame him for being a little out of the loop. He was useless without his coffee, just like Kokichi was useless without his sugar fix on occasion. "I see. So...it's a list of the top ten moments that you had during the channel?"

"More like everyone else's favorite highlights. I can't afford to be partial here. Every scene and video is like it's own unique child-"

"Which is why you keep sending me memes of your own videos," Shuichi cut off quickly, and Kokichi awarded him with a lazy smile. "So, you're not going to come to bed anytime soon."

"Hmm later in the night." Kokichi patted his arm. "You shouldn't fret, you know. I'm not the one that does this more frequently than you do."

Shuichi was the worst at staying up all night. Kokichi only did it when he thought he had no other choice. There clearly wasn't a different alternative. It'd be okay because when he was done, it would be ready for upload. Kokichi would go snuggle with Shuichi if he was still asleep, and rest until day turned to night and fuck up his sorry sleeping schedule again. 

Shuichi nodded after a moment before slipping his arms away from Kokichi's shoulders. Kokichi whined at a loss, but he knew that keeping Shuichi up wouldn't do them any good. Shuichi had a scary job, after all. Kokichi was safe behind a monitor and a camera.

Deciding to distract himself, Kokcihi found the fluffy video that he had been looking for prior.

X

"So I don't know," Kokichi spoke into the camera. It wasn't every day that he vlogged, but today had been a weird enough day to warrant it, "what god I managed to tick off, but apparently they dared to grant me this." He pointed the camera at a ferret that was currently zooming around his dorm room.

"This," Kokichi continued as he tried to follow the slinky, boneless rodent, "is the newest bane of my existence. I told Tanaka-chan to come over so that he can see it because I don't even know how the fuck it got into my dorm! I live on the third floor. I thought about asking Shumai for help since he's pet detective Conan, but...I wasn't willing to have the whole entourage of classmates just barge into my dorm. I suspect that it's a prank being pulled by one of my members and if that's the case then they're about to get a rude awa-" 

There was a loud crash, and Kokichi immediately pointed the camera to show that one of the light fixtures had toppled over. If that didn't get the person below him worried, then Kokichi did his job at being the resident annoyance. Just as the crash happened, the doorbell rang, and Kokichi was starting to understand what a housewife felt like when children were running amok. He had a thought to call Shuichi's uncle and tell him that he was sorry for causing him trouble all the time for getting arrested for the pranks.

"Tanaka-chaaann! Welcome to my humble abode!" Kokichi sang as he stepped to the side. "Your fur baby is causing me problems! Look, they already broke a lamp!" Not that Kokichi was upset about the lamp. That was a hideous lamp, and he had been looking for a reason to get rid of it. Accidents caused by animals shouldn't mean that Kokichi would pay a fine or something.

"Clown Prince of Lies," Gundham greeted as he surveyed the area. The ferret was already running up towards him, and he knelt down. "I see, so you managed to find one of the Thieves of Hell."

"Oh? Is that what they're called? I thought they were called furry slinkies." Kokichi also knelt down as he watched the ferret climb up and over and around Gundham like he was a jungle gym. "So anyway, I'm glad that what ends well goes well, who took one of your animals and put it in my room though I wonder? Or maybe I managed to steal it from your dorm? Nishishi."

"Unfortunately for you, Clown Prince, I was not the one that completed the Thieves of Hell's trial of endurance. However, it appears that this creature, in particular, is keen on testing you. Very well, then. I shall aid you if you require me to do so, but risk it at your own peril. To forge a contract with said beasts means you will have the stamina to keep up with them, and their loyalty."

"Wait, what. I am waaaaay too young to be a furdaddy, Tanka-chan. I haven't even graduated high school yet! What will my parents think of me?!" Kokichi's eyes watered as he watched Overlord just give him an unamused look. He stopped the false tears, and he frowned. "Seriously, Tanaka-chan, what am I going to do with this thing? I don't even know how it got here! I thought it was your furbaby!"

"No. For the Thief of Hell to appear suddenly in your chambers only tells me that they have chosen you on a whim. For what reason, I know not. Perhaps you truly are the Supreme Overlord you say that you are. However, I am the Overlord of ice, Gundham Tanaka! And I will not let you abandon the Infernal Beast so easily. They are not hard to understand. They resemble you in personality."

Kokichi wondered if that was a backhanded compliment or a hell of an insult. He wasn't sure which one to be more impressed by honestly. "Ugh...I guess I can take care of it until I figure out who it really is. Shumai likes pets. I bet he'll help."

"You will need supplies and aid in the meantime. Your chambers are not fit for a creature such as she to run forth." Gundham gently dislodged the ferret from his shoulders and placed it into Kokichi's hand. He never thought he'd know what a furry soap would feel like until he tried to grapple with the ferret to try to keep it in his lap. The ferret wanted to be on his shoulders. Allowing it to do so, Kokichi let out a squeal and bunched his shoulders instinctively when the ferret started to nuzzle and breathe against his ear.

"You're a lifesaver, Tanaka-chan." Kokichi looked at the ferret. He wasn't going to get attached to it.

X

Kokichi was so attached to the ferret that when Shuichi really did find the true owner of the creature, he cried. He didn't sob publicly. He had a brave face when he helped Shumai deliver the little rascal back to its owner. 

Soon afterward, Kokichi was gifted with a ferret of his own from both Tanaka and Shuichi. He teased them for feeling guilty that the animal belonged to someone else, but he appreciated the gift all the same. Ferrets were still in his custody now. He could hear them banging around in Shuichi's room. Shuichi was a light sleeper and had the hardest time adjusting to them when Kokichi begged him to move in. It took a long time. Even to the point where they thought about moving the studio to the living room and having it be their common office so the ferrets could be by themselves. Still, Kokichi panicked about not being able to see them or worry if they needed something in the middle of the night.

Luckily it all worked out. Kokichi rubbed his eyes. He wasn't sure what he'd do anymore without the ferrets in his life. The ferret gifted to him passed a couple of years ago, but he loved the little babies that he was given in return. He may not have asked for the fur daddy life, but he certainly was grateful now for having it. 

Shuichi came back into the studio, and Kokichi's stomach grumbled when he saw that his beloved made him a bowl of scrambled eggs. He didn't even notice that something was cooking in the kitchen. 

"You're crying." Shuichi murmured as he looked at the computer screen. "Oh."

"Meh, you're just gullible, Shumai. These aren't tears. I'm not crying." Kokichi huffed as he took the bowl and looked at the screen again. "I thought you went to bed."

"It's already too late now." Shuichi sighed, "The bed's cold; I couldn't get comfortable. I thought you might've been hungry too."

"Awwww. My beloved's so sweet to me." Kokichi leaned and gently pressed a kiss against his cheek. "Hey, hey, you know what you should do? Shumai should totally add in one of his favorite moments from my channel!"

"Isn't this supposed to be about you?" Shuichi's cheeks dusted a light pink in response. It was still so easy for him to get riled up. It made Kokichi adore him even more. "I shouldn't be intruding on your project, 'Kichi."

"I invited you, didn't I? Gosh, Shumai, clean your ears. Come on, show me your favorite moment! The one that you rewatch over and over and over again! The viewers can't have all the fun." Kokichi shoved himself away from the computer. 

"You picked out your own favorite moment first." Shuichi couldn't imagine Kokcihi letting the audience take full reign of the highlights. Then again, Shuichi scrolled through the videos, cupping his mouth with his hand as he looked through the enormous library. "Wow, some of these older ones…"

"I know! Sooo cringe, right?" Kokichi asked as he stared up at the ceiling, trying to get the burn to stop irritating him. He couldn't wait until he was done with this.

"I forgot you got D.I.C.E into Hope's Peak for day."

Kokichi shot back into a regular sitting position and laughed when he saw the thumbnail that Shuichi hovered over.

X

Kokichi stared at the thick envelope that was in his two subordinate's hands. His heart was racing in his chest as he watched everyone crowd around the siblings. He already had a feeling he knew what that was going to say, and they deserved every bit of it. He recalled all of the late nights that they pulled and phone calls that they made. He was aware of the two jobs that they both held down, not just to help with the living situation. Kokichi's stomach turned uncomfortably. "Well?!" He demanded. "Aren't you going to open it?!" 

"Yeah!" Trick immediately echoed, always faithful to Kokichi's whims. "Go on! Open it! Open it! Open it!" The chant started to take a life of its own, and they were practically yelling it, and their neighbors were pounding on the floor, and their walls to get them to shut up. 

Simultaneously Fold and Honor ripped the envelope. Honor had a bit of a harder time trying to get a clean motion going, while Fold merely tore it like it was nothing. They pulled the thick packet out, and they both screamed. "WE GOT ACCEPTED!"

"Congratulations!" His group clapped and cheered, wolf-whistling and getting the rest of the complex to pound their enthusiasm against the apartment walls again, shouting muffled and unimportant. 

Kokichi gnawed on his lower lip. They deserved that scholarship and that university hands down bars none. A lightbulb suddenly went on his mind. He couldn't afford to get them anything spectacular, but he could give them this.

"Hey, meat perv! I got a question." The next day, Kokihci barged through the 77th classroom without paying any mind to who was actually in there. He was pretty sure no one even batted an eye anymore. Chiaki started to just wave at him without looking up from her game, and Sonia cheerfully called out to him when he made his presence known. He wasn't sure how to react to being welcomed. He was used to his class, giving him a dreaded look and knowing all too well what was going to come. Maybe there was a reason that he pranked them more than the other class. Not that they didn't get their own special treatment. "Do you like teaching people how to cook?"

"Hmmm? What's this? Is Kokichi Ouma, the Supreme Leader bowing down to actually not knowing a basic skill?" Teruteru teased. Kokichi puffed his cheeks out, annoyed, and the cook laughed. "I don't mind teaching. You came to the right place. Are you trying to impress a woman? A man? Is this about Saihara-kun?"

"Awwww, and you're so close! I need to learn how to do a five-course meal so that the president of Russia will accept me as one fo their own! It's a huge business deal that we have going on, you know." Kokichi looked at his nails with disinterest.

"That's a lie, isn't it Ouma-kun?" Sonia asked as she walked over to them curiously. "It does sound like that it's quite a conundrum anyway. Who it's for shouldn't matter. It certainly seems it needs to be special. Do you need any assistance?"

"Sonia-san is so kind. You could help me by-"

Kokichi stepped on Teruteru's foot without even thinking about it. It was one thing it was Miu who was saying something nasty. It was another thing completely when it was an upperclassman hitting on someone that still got Japanese idioms mixed up. "Whoopsie." He said as Teruteru exclaimed in pain. "My bad. What makes you think that the occasion is special? I could just be bored and wanting to bother Hanamura-chan for a minute." 

"You say that, but a five-course meal isn't something to skimp on." Sonia replied instantly, "even if you were lying, that piece of information is critical. Ouma-kun, I have reason to suspect that you are trying to do something for someone's birthday."

Kokichi would not be impressed with how fast this class was at trying to piece together his lies. They were the only ones that called him out on it consistently and easily. Then again, Kokichi did his own digging. Not everyone in the class had clean hands. Most of them were in leadership positions or acted like they were in leadership positions. They had to be able to call out people. "Aw, you caught me. Okay, fine." He turned to Teruteru. "Can you teach more than one person at a time? If I told you it was going to be filmed, will you do it?"

"No need to bribe," Teruteru assured. "I can teach twenty easy. When do you want the lessons?"

"Oh, you know, I'm busy for a supreme leader, so I'll have to check my schedule." He was going to have to check in with his subordinates. "I'll let you know."

"Keep me posted."

Turned out, keeping Teruteru posted went down the drain after a week. For a scared moment, Kokichi thought that he wasn't going to even get time to arrange the meetup, and all of the hard planning that he was doing would go down in flames. Luckily, however, the schedules lined up, the stars lined up, and Kokichi figured out a way to sneak his group through the gates of Hope's Peak and into the school's kitchen without being caught.

Teruteru, on the other hand, hadn't been told ahead of time that he wasn't going to be teaching Hope's Peak students. He stared bugged eyed at the white uniforms of D.I.C.E in shock. "You snuck them in?!" 

"Are you impressed, Hanamura-chan?!" Kokichi grinned as his group fanned around him. Trick and Shuffle didn't count as they were already walking around the kitchens, admiring the view. It was a huge area, and everyone did do a home ec class regardless of talent. The appliances were top of the notch and were easily spread so that everyone could have their own space without running into each other. The teacher's station was long and spacious, giving Teruteru a little more room than the others to work on. "I am the Ultimate Supreme Leader, after all. Getting these guys in here was nothing!"

"No, it wasn't," Solo spoke up. "He begged the headmaster to let us in."

Kokichi rounded onto his family member, tears beading at the corner of his eyes. "How can you say something like that to me?! You're so rude! That's it, fifty lashes and no more no less."

"Can we up that to sixty since Solo forgot to do the chore wheel back home?" Kokichi didn't realize that Honor was already picking a spot to be during the lessons. He was in the back of the room, where he was usually more content. 

"Okay, okay!" Teruteru suddenly broke through the chaos, holding his hands out. "What is the meaning of this, Ouma-kun."

"I am so glad you asked, Hanamura-chan! I want to videotape a cooking lesson, and my lovely peons are no help with making something impressive." Kokichi held out the camera and the small tripod that he brought with him. As dick move as this was, he wasn't going to record Teruteru without his explicit permission. He'd tape himself and his group, though. "I want to show everyone in the world what D.I.C.E. is truly capable of. They'd squirm at how heinous my plan truly is after this is over."

"In other words," Widow spoke up, "He's spoiling us."

"I see, I see." Teruteru mused. "Well, I don't mind being taped so long as you get my good side for all the lovely ladies at home."

That lovely side that Teruteru was commenting on was more or less stopping several fires, and trying to actively correct common cooking mistakes that his subordinates made. Kokichi was proud of each of them for coming out of the ordeal unscathed. Well, they still had a flour fight, and a couple got some grease burns for their troubles. Still, it was a lesson that went down into history as being one of the most fun videos that he had the pleasure of creating. 

It was still talked about among his family to this very day.

X

"Ugh so sentimental," Kokichi complained to himself as he edited the movie into the software. Shuichi returned back into his room after finishing up breakfast and was getting ready for the day. He could hear the shower running in the background, and he got himself back on his feet. Another series of pops went down his body as he grabbed his empty dishes and the bottle of Panta that he had consumed throughout the night. 

He went into the kitchen and grabbed himself another bottle. Still, instead of going back into his studio, he went back into the bedroom. It was easy to easy how mismatched the pair profoundly was. Their bed was covered in purple and black sheets. The floor only had some scattered clothes since Kokichi was a little lazy to just toss them in the hamper. He could hear the ferrets scattering in their cages, and he cooed softly at them as he checked their food and their water supply. 

After his nap, Kokichi was going to have to arrange a time to clean out the cages and let them roam around their room or apartment for a little bit. Shuichi wouldn't mind as long as Cherry didn't climb over him and his files if he worked home today. Cherry was supposed to Kokichi's ferret, but no. For whatever reason, the grey-tabby colored ferret liked Shuichi more. Maybe it's because Shuichi was the one that gave her that name after finding her playing with a cherry. 

He finished his morning routine, as much of it as he possibly could with Shuichi in the shower, and went back into his studio. He just had two more little things, and then he could relax. 

Speaking of relaxing, maybe it was time to let the video take a more of a lull. 

X

"Kami-sama told me that I should be apart of your next video, Kokichi." Angie was the one to get into his face about it this time. Typically Kokichi was the one bothering and badgering people to show up on his YouTube. For the artsy girl, this was a bit of a surprise. 

"Really?" Kokichi hadn't done anything artistic on his channel before, and he was in a bit of a creative rut. Angie didn't strike him to be the type to want to appear on camera. He didn't know if he should be flattered or concerned that she was the one to come up with the idea or not. "I don't know Angie, your idea of art could frighten people."

"Nonsense." Angie beamed, unwavering in her determination. It made Kokichi wonder what sort of plan she had up her sleeve. Angie's artwork was infamous for making people faint or get violently sick after taking a glance at it. Her exam work had to be judged by people from her Island to pass. She could make things less so…but only if she willed it. Sometimes Kokichi thought she did it for the shock value more than anything. He couldn't really swallow the idea that a nameless god would have so much sway over a person.

Then again, cults existed for a reason, maybe that's why Kokichi was so hesitant. Have two leaders in the same room was like putting two alphas in the same cage. Only an idiot with half of a brain would think they wouldn't fight. "What are you going to do?" Kokichi wondered if his fanbase would get sick, or hurt themselves after seeing Angie's work. While he did do whatever he wanted with his channel, the last thing he was going to do was subject them to undo horror.

"Kami-sama says that He wants to spread Peace and Love, so Angie is going to do that." Angie pressed her hands together in prayer. "Kami-sama also says that Kokichi doesn't pay attention to his followers as he should. You do want to get into heaven, right, Kokichi? You do want your followers to live, right?"

This sounded like a bad idea, yet impulse was never something he could control. "Alright, but I'm apart of it." He said, already feeling unease creep on him. "After all, it wouldn't be a good video without me in it."

"Say what you want, Kokichi. Kami-sama knows your selfish and indulgent. Not that it matters." Angie grinned. "Angie can't wait! Angie will prepare her studio for the show! This is so divine! Bye-anora now." 

Kokichi watched her skip out of the classroom, and he banged his head on his desk. Smart move, Kokichi. Like this couldn't go seven ways to hell.

Of course, Angie wouldn't let him have a moment to re-think or to come up with something on the spot. After school, she ambushed him and dragged him to her art studio. The smell of heavy paint and chemicals assaulted Kokichi's nose and gave him an instant headache. The school provided the art room with perfect natural lighting, as well as studio lights to control the shading and the darkness of the room. Canvases and easels were all over the place. Sketch desks were in the proper position, and there was even a pottery section for those that wanted to use it. 

Kokichi wasn't at all surprised either to find a perfect camera tripod and a school camera waiting for him. Angie must have anticipated that he might try to use the excuse that he didn't bring his camera today despite that he carried it everywhere now. She was married to this idea, and there was nothing else to do but to play along.

"Now." Angie sat the easel. "Kokichi should make sure the camera is all set up. Angie would do it, but Angie doesn't know much about cameras. That's Mahiru's and Kokichi's field of study." 

Kokichi gnawed on his lip but looked at the camera. He could just flip a switch on it and have her record while it was turned off, pretend that the battery was dead. However, morbid curiosity took over, and he decided to record it anyway. He didn't have to do it or anything. "Looks like it's all set. Wow, Angie-can must be a liar too. She said she didn't set anything up, but the camera's all perfect."

"Hahaha!" Angie clapped her hands joyfully. "It is as Kami-sama wills! Come and sit." She patted a space next to her, and Kokichi left the camera.

"This your canvas." Angie immediately produced a blank white canvas, and she also poured a bunch of paint tubes onto the counter with little to no thought or care about them. She also pushed a pallet and a holder of brushes. "Now, Kami-sama has an idea of what we should be creating. Peace and love. What, Kokichi, brings you that?"

"World domination." It was the most straightforward answer.

Angie just sighed, "Wrong wrong. How are you going to get into heaven with that attitude? Peace and love. Not war and blood." Angie picked up her brush and started to pick the paints from the tube. Kokichi was going to have to make a mental note that if he did upload this, it meant making an impromptu opening that made him look like a willing participant. 

Good god, was he actually considering this? "Peace is the color blue." Angie squirted the right amount onto her pallet. "A color of red." She also added that. "And yellow."

"Are you…mixing colors?"

"Hush. Let Kami-sama do his work." With that, Angie fell silent, and Kokichi watched in awe and wonder as she began to work the primary colors into her own shades and hues of the rainbow. Having no idea what she was doing, nor was she going to be explaining, he gave the camera a small look and a slight shrug.

Might as well get to painting. Kokichi reached for random colors, not caring what they were and placed them on his own pallet. Well, if they were going to go for peace and love…Kokichi already had a vague idea of what he could paint. 

Kokichi actively had to turn this into a speed paint. They didn't talk through the two hours that they spent creating, painting, and mixing. Kokichi tried to wheedle conversation, but Angie had been entranced by her God and was entirely absorbed in her task. He even tried to prod and distract her at times, but she didn't budge. He had to admit that he admired her ability to zone out and keep focus without any distractions. 

Shuichi couldn't even do that when Kokichi tackled him on his shoulders. 

The painting session ended with the reveal. Much to Kokichi's surprise, Angie didn't paint something that would make the viewers fall over themselves and puke. Instead, she painted a field of flowers, underneath a wide-open sky and near an ocean beach. He could feel the sun on his skin and smell the floral scent of the flowers just from looking at the painting alone. He truly felt as if he was only captured and inserted into whatever scene that was. 

Kokichi knew that his painting would hold no such depth. He painted a rocket ship in space. Despite badgering and bothering Momota, Kokichi was thrilled for him to be able to go up into space. He always talked about it and wanted it for such a long time. Kokichi knew when he heard about the project, Kokichi had to do something for him. 

He wasn't going to give him this painting, though. This was going in the trash.

"Aw! Kami-sama says that you could have used a little more color, but He feels your effort. Looks like you got approval this time Kokichi." Angie nodded, and Kokichi wondered if this was why Angie wanted him to do something anyway. Did she have a hunch that Kokichi was trying to come up with something to say congratulations? 

"I think you're too sentimental there, Angie-chan. I just painted an execution!" Kokichi grinned brightly. "You go up and up in space, and then you come crashing down BOOM!"

"Hmmm. Is that really? Is that really it?" Angie asked, "Angie doesn't think so, but if that's what you're going to call it, Angie can't refute it. Though that means you lose Kami-sama's approval for the scene. That's too bad. No going to heaven for you, Kokichi. You should be less selfish."

"You keep telling yourself that." Kokichi grinned.

X

  
  


The last scene. Well, two more scenes, but Kokichi was going to cheat. He never said that he had to use separate videos for the highlights after all, and they both went hand in hand. Just…one of them hadn't been shown to the public yet is all. Shuichi told him that he didn't mind now that it's been a few months, and all of their friends already knew. Kokichi was still hesitant to show it off, less because of the viewers and the hype, but more because it was a moment treasured.

This was the entire reason he created this channel, though, wasn't it? Despite the constant changes and routes that he took, from vlogs, gaming, stories, and many others, the constant had been the same throughout. They were his story. His narrative. Kokichi never thought about it before when he was younger, but this was him…documenting him. Of course, he was his favorite subject, but…

No one else was going to have the same memories until they re-watched the tapes. The inside jokes. The small details that they didn't remember that they could look back on and laugh at. He had time and time again heard his friends pull up his videos to prove a point in an argument, or to remind themselves of what they went through. Even though they were no longer in Hope's Peak and scattered off to different areas of the universe, that always stayed the same.

They were all connected to these videos. Whether they wanted to be or not. Kokichi still got the occasional text from Rantaro asking him about if he wanted to get eaten alive by mosquitos. He got the teasing message from Kaito about the painting that apparently was hanging in his apartment in America. 

The closest people already knew this part of the story. Kokichi let out a faint breath as he went through the final scene, catching up to today.

X

"I wasn't expecting Himiko to actually come back to perform here," Shuichi said as he lounged in the chair. It was good that it was so lovely outside; otherwise, Kokichi might die from the Japanese humidity. There was a good crowd that was seated in the improvised audience. The park was closed down for this, but Himiko insisted it to be kid-friendly. If kids didn't want to pay attention and play around somewhere, they were more than welcomed to. 

Sometimes Kokichi wondered if that was a jab at him for sometimes not paying attention. She couldn't have known that Shuichi and himself were here, though. There weren't tickets, it was a first come first serve, and they j ust happened to be walking through the park to get groceries when they saw that Himiko was home.

Shuichi was sentimental. He missed his friends after graduation, and he tried to keep in touch with as many of them as he possibly could. Kokichi couldn't deny him a chance to see Himiko. Even if they didn't get to say hello, they could at least tell her that they saw her perform and encourage her to continue. 

Kokichi felt a pang in his heart. His group would've wanted to be here too. D.I.C.E officially disbanded after the last member graduated from high school, and disappeared to God knows where. While he missed his family and friends with a terrible ache, they kept in touch with discord, and they knew how each other was doing. They tried to arrange it so that they could come back home and visit once or twice a year if they were able to. 

Many of them were starting lives of their own, though. Kokichi was no longer going to be their touchstone . He was proud of them. Fold was working as a doctor, Ouverte was a photographer, Solo worked in an IT program, Trick and Deuce were working alongside CPS and an orphanage, respectively. Shuffle was doing something with her dance. Widow made it as an author as she always wanted to be. Chicane was currently playing in a band. Honor was a psychologist. 

Kokichi?

Kokichi never thought he would say he had a government job. Still, he supposed that being a leader for a non-profit charity organization with well over 10,000 members was saying something. He never once thought about politics, trying to get his hands dirty. He shouted in protests and advocated in so many ways that Shuichi sometimes worried they'd one day meet in a crossfire.

Kokichi didn't blame him for the worry. Still, he also found it funny that they were considered to be star-crossed lovers in some scenarios. 

Himiko approached the stage, and out of habit, Kokichi reached into his bag and pulled out his camera. Himiko was used to being recorded, and even if it wasn't him, someone was going to take this video of her performance and showcase it to the world of YouTube. 

It was all sleight of hand tricks that Kokichi could easily dismantle. Still, there were some tricks that she did with her little white tiger cub or her flesh-eating piranhas he'd never understand. She dazzled the audience with flowers and birds, showed off card tricks and water glasses, distracted, manipulated, and teased. When the performance ended, Himiko had the entire crowd entranced. Whether it was her or her magic, it didn't matter. 

Kokichi wasn't ashamed to be the only one that was doing a standing ovation. When she did her final piece, even if Shuichi was embarrassed for him and tried to tug him down. 

Later after the performance and everyone was getting up to leave, Himiko approached them, looking tired as ever, but a slight smile on her face. "Saihara. Ouma." She greeted. "I wasn't expecting you two to show up."

"We weren't expecting the performance." Shuichi smiled. Her hair was longer, and she filled out some. 

Kokichi couldn't help but to poke fun at that, "Hey, did your chest get bigger since the last time we saw each other?"

"Rude!" Himiko glared at Kokichi. "I worked hard on my magic to get to a size I liked. It took a lot of mana for me to be able to produce it too."

"Really? It seems half-"

Shuichi cut through, hoping to stop it before it could begin. "I'm glad to see you're doing well, Yumeno-san."

"Nyah. Same to you, Saihara. I'm shocked you haven't tossed Ouma out the window yet." 

"So rude!" Kokichi shouted, gripping onto Shuichi like a lifeline. "Yumeno-chan's being mean!"

"Oh bother, he still does the crying," Himiko grumbled. "I'll leave you two it, Saihara. See you later."

"See you later, Yumeno-san. Good luck with your next performance, and stay safe." Shuichi hurriedly yanked Kokichi away. "Honestly…" 

"It's good, she's happy. It would suck if we found out that she was doing this and hated it." Kokichi pretended to look at his nails, trying to give off the air that he didn't give a fuck. Unfortunately, Shuichi saw through him, as he always saw through him.

"You were worried." Shuichi nodded a little. "I was worried too."

"Oh, oh! Come on! Let's walk through the park for real this time." Kokichi grabbed Shuichi's hand and started leading him back onto the path that they had deviated from, to begin with. 

There was a plan here. While it was nice to see Himiko again, Kokichi wasn't going to forget the real reason why he was trying to go through the long way of grocery shopping. 

Shuichi followed along, not questioning him. Sometimes it was nice that Shuichi stopped trying to see the motive for every little thing. Sometimes, Kokichi wondered what it was that made Shuichi decide to let him do his own thing. Where the sudden trust came from. Where did the unexpected love and genuine care come from? Sometimes, Kokichi had to be the one to poke and prod, trying to find the reasons behind why Shuichi did what he did.

Unfortunately, all he got for his answers, were simple and complex all at once. A mystery that Kokichi didn't have any hope to figure out. 

Which was why he led him to a fountain and gestured for them to sit. "Tired?" Shuichi asked, curiously. "We were out in the sun. You don't do well with heat."

"Maybe I wanted to feel the fountain's mist. Maybe I twisted my ankle. Maybe I'm secretly dying, and you have no idea!" Kokichi could feel the nervousness bubble up, and he started to fidget with the camera. "This isn't…this isn't going to go anywhere."

"I'm sorry?" Shuichi blinked slow, already lost. Kokichi couldn't blame him, he did toss in a random conversation here.

"I love you," Kokichi swallowed. "I know you don't like public declarations, but I couldn't just…let this be another run of the mill too. We can do the fancy stuff later, with the candles and the dinner and-"

Shuichi just stared, trying to puzzle it out.

Kokichi forgot how to breathe. He forgot how not to feel crushed and elated by Shuichi's patience. "I just…don't want this to be a memory you'll forget. I asked Yumeno-chan to come by."

Shuichi was started to get a picture. 

"I know you missed her, and you wanted to see her perform, but she sells her tickets, and they're gone in an instant. I called in a favor. She adores you, you know." Kokichi continued. "I was supposed to ask you there, but when I asked you kind of proposal you wanted, and you said something comfortable, I had to backtrack a little."

An understanding was starting to get through to Shuichi, and Kokichi knelt before his crush, boyfriend, partner, lover. "Shuichi Saihara." He paused. "Will you-"

"A thousand times, yes." Shuichi laughed, tears already spilling down his beloved's eyes. "You never had to ask, Kokichi. You could just tell me, and I would ask when."

"Pffft, I knew that." Kokichi huffed. "Bad news is that I remembered the camera, but I forgot the fucking ring."

"That's a lie; it's in your camera case, isn't it." Shuichi laughed as Kokchi pretended to slump in defeat. Still, he reached into his camera case and hesitated before handing it over. 

"I don't think it looks good anymore, I tried to find something-" 

"Kokichi…" Shuichi stopped him from worrying, opening the case, and taking the ring out. Blue like his hair, gold like his eyes. "It's perfect, I love it. I love you. Come here." He reached for Kokichi, tugging him into an embrace. 

S huichi kissed his hair, his forehead, and then his lips.

All was right in the world at that moment.

X

All was right in this world too. Finally done with the highlights, Kokichi uploaded it onto a schedule, and he slowly wandered into the living room and fell onto his fiancé's lap knocking himself out in the process.

The late-night and early morning were worth the years he was able to spend with his friends and his beloved.

And that's the truth. 


	3. Lost Cause (Ouma-Centric)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 3: Angel/Demon AU, Redemption, Emotions
> 
> The moment Kokichi woke up in the middle of the killing game; he knew that he wouldn’t last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to OumaMonth for hosting this event. Thank you all for the comments, kudos, bookmarks, and hits. I appreciate every one of you.

The moment Kokichi woke up in the middle of the killing game; he knew that he wouldn’t last. People like him wouldn’t survive the first, or the second, or even the third murder. Kokichi could feel his throat tighten as he dragged himself to the hydraulic press. The poison in his blood blurred his vision and made his lungs feel as though there were rocks slowly bein piled on top of him. He laid down on his back and aggravated the issue. He could taste blood in the back of his throat, coating his tongue and teeth. His muscles ached and spasmed despite lying still as a rock.

He knew that this was where he would get in the end. Maybe not poisoned or about to be crushed like a grape, but he was going to die sometime. He had tried. He had worked so fucking hard to get the kids to see what he was seeing. To get them to understand that there was a bigger game involved.

_ Did he manage to get that message across Shuichi, or did he take those games they played at face value? _

The motive videos, their lives, every little thing, Kokichi would  _ know.  _ He saw it all before. Not through some stupid time-loop that other people would assume, he watched all of this happen to play out before. Different faces, different names, different talents. Every single one of them falling for the lie that the killing game was undoubtedly their real lives and that this was their destiny.

_ How many times could he do this without his wings turning black? _

Whether it was out of madness or desperation, Kokichi couldn’t honestly say. He knew it was wrong. He knew convincing Gonta was wrong. There was no shortage of people he could’ve chosen. He could’ve picked Korekiyo; he could’ve selected Angie. He could’ve picked anyone that was just slightly more tainted. 

_ He could’ve picked Shuichi, but they needed him more than they needed Kokichi. _

__ He could hear the rumble of the press coming to life, but it sounded far away, like an ocean’s waves crashing in the distance. He could feel the vibrations under his back, and any other day he would’ve laughed and pretended that this wasn’t uncomfortable, but the minuscule jousting did little to deter from his thoughts. His vision was darkening at the corner of his eyes, narrowing his vision the press itself. 

Customarily a human would feel fear right about now. Kokichi should be freaking out. Yet his heart couldn’t beat any faster than it already was. The poison soothed his muscles, trying to coax the body into a natural sleep. His weak heart already working overtime from the killing game, worked harder to try to keep the blood flow. His lungs were getting tighter and tighter, forcing shallower breaths. Kokichi was exhausted. 

It was hard to keep alive, harder to want to see the world come to an end.

He could just close his eyes. 

He fought hard enough, hadn’t he? 

The killing game finally won out, didn’t it? 

He already lost his wings the moment Gonta took Miu’s life. The black feathers taunted him day in and day out. There was no heaven for him to come home to. There was nothing for him up in the sky. No afterlife to greet him. No golden gates. No one murdered in this game or accused of murder was going to dare to speak on his behalf to allow him back. No, they would let him fall back into hell.

He would deserve it too. Kokichi didn’t have the strength to try to refute it.

He could only hope that saving Maki and Kaito and trying to stall the game in of itself would be redemption enough. Even if he was sentenced and judged to go into hell, he hoped that saving them would do something. 

He had faith that Shuichi would figure it out. He wished that they would get out. He hoped that they lived better lives, even if they didn’t. Worst case scenario, if they all died, he still hoped that this was the final killing game.

_ His lungs and heart gave out.  _


	4. Home (Ouma-centric)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 4: Hope's Peak AU/ Pets/Food
> 
> Kokichi liked being at Hope's Peak, but nothing beat coming home to people that wanted to be around him the most.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for OumaMonth for creating the event! Also thank you guys so much for the subscriptions, hits, bookmarks, comments, and kudos. I'm so happy and I appreciate every one of you!

Kokichi struggled with the large cage and a suitcase as he struggled up the stairs to get to the apartment building. He grumbled under his breath as the cage rattled, and the poor creature inside was curled up in the corner, not at all liking the transportation. It didn’t help that the corner Slinky decided to hide in was the corner that threw the entire cage off balance and made it, so Kokichi struggled that much harder.

“Ahhh! Ouma-sama-san, why didn’t you text?!” Oh! Good timing! One of his subordinates had great timing, and he couldn’t see very well over the cage. He could see Shuffle coming towards him through the bars that obstructed his vision, and he noticed that she wasn’t alone. Widow quietly trailed after her. 

“With what hands?!” Kokichi couldn’t help but bite back the obvious. Before he could command either of them to help him out, Shuffle went for the suitcase, and Widow took the cage from his hands, holding it so that it was her turn to be blinded. “I’m so glad that I have such faithful followers like you two.” He teased.

“Yes, yes, we missed you too.” Shuffle chirped, her pigtails bouncing. “Come on, Asuka-chan! Let’s go tell the others Ouma-sama-san’s home!” Before either of them could call back to her, she raced up the stairs, the suitcase thumping wildly behind her.

“THAT IS FRAGILE SHUFFLE-CHAN!” Kokichi yelled after her, but he wasn’t going to get any sympathy. He didn’t have anything that was too breakable in there, but he would like it if his clothes didn’t smell like ferret food. 

Sighing, he ran his fingers through his hair and tugged on a strand before turning his attention to Widow, who stood meekly beside him. Understanding her fear of stairs, he grabbed her sleeve and gently started tugging on her to follow. He kept a steady pace, making sure that she wouldn’t fall over since she was as small as he was. He should’ve demanded Shuffle to take the cage instead, too late now. 

They reached the floor level, and Kokichi felt a breath leave him. The apartment hadn’t changed much since he had been here. The wooden floors still creaked if he stepped on them in the wrong way. He reached their door, and he fished out his keys from his pocket.

Home sweet home, and he couldn’t wait to get out of the damn uniform. He liked being at Hope’s Peak, but they needed a better stylist. He didn’t look good in brown and ordinary colors. He already knew that once he got into his room, Kokichi could do whatever fucking color combination he wanted. He was already getting a vision of lime-green and yellow as the door swung open.

Poppers immediately exploded into his face, and he stared blankly as all of his subordinates crowded around the genkan. He hadn’t expected everyone to meet up today. “Welcome Home, Supreme Leader!” They cheered.

“I’m home.” Kokichi grinned. “What you missed me so much you decided to get fireworks? You’re going to have clean up the streamers, you know!” A soft smell of food cooking reached him, and his interest was newly piqued. “What are you cooking? Is that what I think it is?”

“One of your favorites,” Ouverte said. He backed away from the group so that he could get back into the kitchen. Everyone else moved away from the entrance hall to let Kokichi kick his shoes off and get inside. Honor reached over and helped Widow take the cage.

“Hey Leader,” Trick spoke up from behind Honor, looking into the cage. “When did you have a ferret?”

“Tanaka-chan and Saihara-chan gifted me her as an early Christmas present! She’s going to be our new mascot, so I expect everyone to treat her kindly, you hear?” Kokichi wiggled his finger at his team as he took the cage back from Honor. 

“Can we play with her? Can we? Can we?!” Shuffled asked, eyes sparkling like Kokichi was the one that was gifting her the ferret. 

He honestly couldn’t deny them anything they wanted. They all were looking eager or hesitant to try to play with Slinky. Sighing dramatically, he moved to the living room and set the cage on top of the small table. He opened the door, making kissing noises as he coaxed the ferret into his arms. “Come here, Slinky.” He cooed. “You have new friends to meet.”

“You named a ferret Slinky.” Solo deadpanned, arms draped over the back of the couch while Shuffle and Widow sat on either side. Trick was already trying to crowd Kokichi’s side, hands, and arms open. Without thinking about it, Kokichi pushed the ferret onto Trick and watched in utter amusement as Slinky started to try to escape.

“How do you even hold her?!” Trick cried out as Slinky started to climb up his shoulder. He tried to pull her down, but it was easy to wiggle and slid her way through his fingers. 

“Here lemme,” Deuce took the ferret off and allowed the creature free reign of his shoulders. “Bet that if we let her down, she’ll scatter through the apartment.

“She’ll do more than that.” Kokichi sat down on the couch between the two girls as he rubbed his eyes. The day’s exhaustion was finally seeping into his joints. He was grateful to be at home. Grateful to be surrounded by his friends.

“Here, Widow, you try.” Deuce lightly poured Slinky into her lap, and Widow’s eyes widened dramatically.

Kokichi kept a wary eye on Widow as she slowly brought her arms around the creature and allowed it to climb up and underneath her sweater. Slinky’s head poked out from the collar and pressed her nose into Widow’s chin and lips. Relief spread through him as Widow slowly brought two fingers and stroked the top of Slinky’s head. 

In the background, he heard the sound of a camera snapping, and he looked over to see that Fold was placing her phone away into her pocket. She strode over and stayed a reasonable distance away from Widow. “So its name is Slinky? How did she get that name?”

“You saw Deuce-chan and Trick-chan struggle with her, right?” Kokichi grinned, “I was going to call her Soap Bubble, but no one appreciated it.”

“God, that’s terrible.” Deuce squeezed his eyes shut in answer, and Trick snorted. “That’s like calling Ouverte-kun Eggman!”

“Dr. Robotnik to you!” Ouverte shouted from the kitchen, and the group giggled at the inside joke. Kokichi wondered if Tsumugi would like to meet the Robotonik cosplayer she gushed about over Instagram a couple of months ago. Ouverte didn’t do a lot of conventions, but it was his only famous cosplays.

“Widow-chan, can I see Slinky?” Shuffle asked, leaning over Kokichi, holding out her hands.

Widow seemed to think about it before pulling her sweater up and coaxing the creature down and off of her. She placed her hands down and allowed Slinky to decide where she was going to go. Naturally, Slinky thought it was now an excellent time to try to climb up the couch’s back. 

Kokichi quickly reached for her before chaos could form and dumped her into Shuffle’s hands. 

Solo peered over a little more curiously as Shuffle cooed and cuddled the creature, effortlessly adapting to the ferret’s movements. Hence, it stayed trapped in her arms. Kokichi had a feeling that if anyone could give Shuffle an excitable animal, she could tame it within a second. Gundham would be excited to meet someone that could do that who wasn’t talented.

“So she’s our mascot, right? We should get as many pictures as we can with her so that we can flood our social media with her.” Honor mused thoughtfully.

“I’m five steps ahead of you.” Fold teased her brother. “I have like six photos already on my phone.”

“What?!” Shuffle gasped. “Fold-chan, you’re so sneaky!”

Fold merely tapped her temple a few times. Kokichi rolled his eyes dramatically and swung himself up and on to his feet. “I’m gonna put Slinky’s cage in my room.” He told them. “Where’s my suitcase?”

“I threw it out the window.” Shuffle replied as she handed the ferret off to Honor.

“Goddamn it,” Kokichi scowled at her. “Better have not hit any of the cars. My suitcase can’t take a beating like that, Shuffle-chan.” He had a feeling that she just tossed it in his room somewhere. He walked off, listening to his friend’s coo and gush over Slinky as he headed back into his room.

It was as if he had never left; not a single knick-knack was out of place. He supposed Widow might’ve washed the sheets. Kokichi never made his bed, and never thought to even at Hope’s Peak. He found the perfect spot for the cage and decided to leave the suitcase where it was for now before flopping onto the bed without changing his clothes.

A little nap wouldn’t hurt before dinner. 

  
  
  
  



	5. Catch Me If You Can (Ouma-centric possible Saiouma if you squint)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 5: Phantom Thief AU/Deception/Unexpected
> 
> The thief never thought that he was special enough to warrant a detective on his case. He could have a lot of fun with this one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much OumaMonth for creating this event! Thank you to those who have subscribed, kudos, hits, bookmarked, and commented on my work. You guys are amazing and I appreciate you very much!

Footsteps echoed loudly in the corridor as the thief turned a sharp corner and threw himself onto the railing, sliding down past the stairs and allowing gravity to take its course. He used his hand to keep his balance and his speed steady as he went down the corkscrew staircase. Before he even reached the end, he quickly jumped off of the banister and jumped the last few steps, landing hard on his feet. He could hear shouting behind him, the voices sounding disembodied as they bounced from wall to wall.

The thief had no time for smart mouth comments or any type of taunt. He was just grateful that the museum didn’t have many traps involved. Considering that his men should be operating the controls, he should be feeling a sense of relief. He didn’t have to work too hard to get through the security guards. They were also well fit men. He could hear them far behind him, and too close for comfort.

Everything was too close until he was out in the streets with the sun on his back. He was just about there when someone walked right in front of the doors. A man with a lithe figure and a dark black trenchcoat wore a baseball cap that shrouded his eyes. He kept his hands in his pockets and stood in front of the door.

The thief hissed; now was not the time for improvised villains. He skidded himself into a sharp turn and lost his balance. The painting was still safe in his arms, but the bruise he got from the landing was going to hurt like a bitch.

He clambered up onto his feet, and before he could dodge, the man grabbed him by the wrist and yanked him to face him. He had gold eyes that were framed around eyelashes a bit too feminine for the man.

“Mister Detective is a mean brute. Don’t you know you’re supposed to ask for a date first?” The thief teased, trying to keep his breathing even and his composure steady; the security guards would be taking the emergency elevator if not the long staircase to hell. He was wasting time talking like this. Before the man could respond, the thief quickly brought his leg up and stamped on the man’s foot.

The sudden pain blossomed, and the detective lost his grip. He tried to scramble it back like one would try to grip on a wet soap bar, but the thief took the distraction for what it was. He yanked the door and fled out to the streets—the detective not too far behind on his trial.

“Who the fuck is chasing you?!” The thief could hear loudly in his ear. He had no time to respond. A word was a second too precious to waste. “Hey, racecars! Follow at a distance, but don’t get too close. When boss-man reaches your direction, get him in, and get the fuck out.”

“Roger dodger!” The familiar female voice responded, and he could hear an echo of affirmatives that could easily sound like the echo from the museum. It was comforting to know that backup was on its way. Still, it was discomforting that the detective followed him up to a rooftop.

“Aw man,” the thief glanced over his shoulder, “Mister Detective’s going to get hurt, you know! You shouldn’t be chasing little ol’ me. You’re gonna get your face bashed in!”

“Just surrender the painting!” Oh...the detective had a gentle voice. There was waver of doubt in his tone, but it was clear that he was waiting to see if the thief would just give up. He looked trapped.

He looked back down and saw that his subordinates knew him well. “Hasta la vista!” He said as he jumped off and down from the roof.

The detective let out a scream, and the thief landed right into the car, grateful that they had one that had a sunroof. Before he could order them to do anything, the driver immediately gunned it, shooting down the alleyway and blending with the traffic around them.

So much for that.

X

Kokichi twirled his pen as he stared hard at the clock. He swore that the seconds ticked by slower and slower, the resounding tick, tick, tick,

louder in his brain. It did nothing to drown the thoughts of last night, however. It was curious. It was very curious; he didn’t know that there’s an investigation. He was pretty sure that he was a detective anyway. Kokichi didn’t see a badge, nor the man tried to introduce himself. Then again, Kokichi hadn’t stuck around for handshakes, and hors d’ oeuvres. 

New players were always welcomed; it wasn’t that bad. Kokichi got himself up from the counter and sighed. Ten minutes and the store was still empty, and he was bored out of his mind. Everything was wiped and cleaned. He didn’t even know why he was on this shift if nothing exciting was going to happen. He could go through his phone and see what the news was saying. He wondered if the detective would be mentioned anywhere.

Kokichi suddenly wrinkled his nose. On second thought, wouldn’t it be much more fun if he didn’t know who was chasing him? Wouldn’t it be more interesting if they were to meet again, a mystery unfounded? Pursing his lips together, he weighed the pros and cons. He could rely on his teammates to tell him if they got too close to the fire this time and needed to go down low for a bit. However, no one was good at making plans like he was. If there was even the smallest chance that they were going to get caught, he needed to know everything.

If he were by himself doing this, then, by all means, he’d let the mystery be. Since he was with a group, people he considered family, Kokichi couldn’t take the risk.

Just as he was about to reach for his phone to check the news, the door’s bell jingled loudly to catch his attention. Bad timing, but at least he wasn’t bored. A man walked through, wearing a black turtleneck and black rings around his eyes. Kokichi noticed that he had navy blue hair, tucked underneath a baseball cap that seemed oddly familiar. Golden eyes peered up, and Kokichi felt his heart stutter in his chest.

This was too freaky to be a coincidence. 

“Heya, welcome! How may I help? It looks like you had a bit of a long night there. Those shadows under your eyes look like they could eat your face!” Kokichi commented as he twirled the pen up and down his fingers. “I’m going to take a guess. You’re going to want coffee, and you’re gonna want a lot of caffeine.”

“Well, um...this is a coffee shop so that deduction of yours is a little...obvious?” The man tried, and that voice cinched it.

The detective was standing right in front of him.

Huh. Kokichi wondered if this was a prank. Was he going to get arrested? He glanced at the door where the detective had walked through and hummed thoughtfully. “And the rest of it?” Kokichi prompted. “Espresso? Latte? Coffee brewed with Monster?”

The detective spluttered at the last bit. “That’s something I used to drink back in college.” He tugged the hat down, hiding one of his eyes. “Um...sorry to disappoint it’s nothing that exciting. I was just...a black coffee’s fine.”

Kokichi pressed a finger against his cheek as he watched the detective fidget. Kokichi didn’t think he was that intimidating. His height notwithstanding, not even his group found him terrifying. “Caffeine is going to make your heart stop if you keep worrying yourself the way you do.” He finally said as he turned to the coffee pot. “If I turn on the news tomorrow and find out you died because you consumed too much coffee, I’m going to cry!” He paused. “Oh yeah, I didn’t get your name.”

“Do...do you need it? I’m the only one here….”

“Playing secrets? Wait, are you trying to hide from your mistress, and that’s why you’re staying up late? Am I helping someone unfaithful?!” Kokichi gasped, nearly spilling the coffee as he lifted the mug. 

“Wh-No!” The detective spluttered. “It’s just...I don’t…” He looked like he was struggling, and Kokichi wondered if it was possible to turn someone into a puddle on the floor due to anxiety. Anxiety Melt. Melted Anxiety. Panic Puddle. The Chaotic Mess That is Blue and Black “Shuichi Saihara. My name’s Shuichi Saihara.”

“Oh, that’s a lot better than what I’ve been calling you in my head,” Kokichi said as he gently shoved the mug towards the stammering detective. “Unless were you heading into work? I could pour that into a to-go cup. Silly me got distracted by your pretty eyes that I completely forgot to ask you.”

Shuichi’s cheeks flushed coral pink, and he bowed his head, trying to keep his gaze onto the floor. Kokichi could hear the shallow breaths and the encouragement that Shuichi was trying to give his lungs to go slower and deeper with his breathing. For a detective that was a riddled mess of problems, Kokichi wondered how on earth Shuichi got into the career. “I...I can stay.”

“Yay! I’m loved! I’m so glad! No, you get to sit at the counter.” Kokichi ordered, patting the surface down as he grinned at the detective. “So tell me, Saihara-chan, am I going to see you more often?”

“Hahaha, this was...this was a spur of the moment thing,” Shuichi admitted, tugging at his hat slightly. “I’ve seen the sign out on the corner, and I thought it looked...interesting.”

“Oh, you mean my board?” Kokichi asked, blinking curiously. There was a blackboard that stood in the way of any pedestrians that dared to walk past the shop. When Kokichi could get a hold of it, he liked to make it fun.

“Uh yeah. Today you wrote something like “ _Coffee Masterpieces To Make You See Your Mother Twice”_ or something. I swore I was reading an Ibuki Mioda song.”

“Well, you’re not wrong there, Saihara-chan. That was a parody of one of her songs.” Kokichi was thrilled. “That’s awesome, though! No one else gets the reference besides Hinata-chan! He doesn’t come in as often as he should.” He pouted. “I make better coffee than his boyfriend does.”

“That’s a weird thing to be jealous about,” Shuichi commented as he brought the cup to his lips. Kokichi watched him blow delicately across the rim before taking a sip. “...This is good.”

“ _See????”_ Kokichi reached over and poked Shuichi’s arm. “Now, do you agree with me that Hinata-chan’s weird to leave me? I make the best coffee in all of the seven worlds!”

“You mean seven wonders, right? Seven worlds sound a bit…” Shuichi trailed off.

“If I meant the seven wonders, I would say the seven wonders. Saihara-chan’s not fun at all.”

“Ah, I’m sorry.” Shuichi ducked his head again, and Kokichi frowned a little. He did that a bit too much now that Kokichi thought about it. He leaned over the counter to try to catch a glimpse of Shuichi’s expression. When the man peered up and over the rim of the coffee cup, Kokichi could read curiosity as if it was a sign plastered on his forehead. “Um...what are you…?”

“You shouldn’t hide like that,” and of course, Kokichi didn’t know how to control his mouth. “I mean hiding is lame. Especially when you look better when you’re staring at me.”

“Narcissistic, much?” Shuichi’s lips quirked a little at the corners of his mouth.

Kokichi burst into tears, “Saihara-chan’s mean to me!” 

Shuichi fumbled with the cup, trying to set it down and reach over to try to comfort Kokichi at the same time. The brown liquid sloshed over the rim and left a decent-sized puddle on the table. “I’m sorry, I-” he broke off when Kokichi quickly dried his tears and the mess that Shuichi made. 

“Silly Saihara-chan’s so easy to tease!” Kokichi chirped, “I wasn’t expecting you to panic like that. You’re not hurt, are you?”

“N-no.” Shuichi shook his head. “The coffee missed me.”

“Good. It’d be a shame for you to burn your face off. How would you woo anyone if that was the case?” 

“Anyone, huh?” Shuichi muttered. 

Kokichi wondered if there was more to the story. He also had a feeling that he was messing around too much. He was getting familiar with the enemy of his people. He needed to reel it back in. Curse his ability to make friends easily. He wished he was more like Solo, who took everyone in with a grain of salt and sarcasm. “What does Saihara-chan do for a living?”

“Well... I’m a detective of sorts. I consider myself to be more a private eye, but lately, I’m needed more on the field than I am needed anywhere else. Especially lately with the thefts that are going on.” Shuichi explained.

“Huh? Thefts? Should I be worried?” Kokichi asked as he pressed a finger against his cheek. 

“I don’t think so. So far, the thieves don’t attack small businesses. If anything, they avoid them like the plague. Unless you’re housing something expensive, I doubt you’d get hit. So far, they’re just petty art and jewelry thieves.”

“Oooh. I didn’t think that art theft was still a thing! That sounds so cool!” Kokichi gushed.

“It’s not all that exciting as you make it out to be. I can’t say much else since it’s a private investigation, and it’s still ongoing.” Shuichi admitted. 

“Understood loud and clear,” Kokichi saluted. “You know, next time you come in, I’m going to have you try something. Doesn’t Saihara-chan like sweets?”

“I don’t have much of a sweet tooth,” Shuichi admitted as Kokichi once more gave him a pout. “I know you’re not the only one disappointed. Akamatsu-san’s been trying to get me to like strawberry-flavored things ever since I met her. The last time we hung out, she had me try strawberry milk.”

“Oh, god!” Kokichi stuck his tongue out dramatically, scrunching up his features to show his distaste. “Strawberry milk isn’t strawberry. It’s fucking pink! It’s awful! Why would your friend do that to you? Saihara-chan, I think your friend hates you!”

Shuichi laughed. Kokichi felt his heart flip in his chest before he shoved that down as far as it would go. “I think she just wants me to enjoy more different types of chocolate, so she’s not limited every Valentine’s day.”

“Oh? Akamatsu-chan isn’t a friend?” Kokichi pressed a finger against his lips, stamping down disappointment too while he was at it. “My, my, my, Saihara-chan, how scandalous; talking to me behind your girlfriend’s back.”

“She’s not like that!” The blush came back full force, and Shuichi ducked his head again, trying to scramble for his hat to hide his gaze. “She’s a good friend of mine, that’s all. You’re not the only one that keeps saying that. Momota-kun and Harukawa-san keep trying to push me towards her too. I don’t think they know that she’s dating Amami-kun.”

“Amami?” Kokichi blinked, “Avocado?”

“I’m sorry?” 

“Avocado! Avocado!” No matter how many times Kokichi insisted on the name, Shuichi looked at him blankly. “Ugh, your friend group must be fun at parties.”

“I...don’t go-”

“I should’ve guessed.” Kokichi threw his hands up. “Of course, you don’t go. That’s why you don’t know the secret about Avocado!”

“We’re not even sure we’re talking about the same person!” Shuichi squeaked indignantly, but he seemed to relax a little. “Amami-kun...Rantaro Amami?”

“ _Ding, ding, ding!!”_ Kokichi cheered. “So we do know the person. Huh. Weird. You would think if we had a friend in the same group, we’d know each other.”

“Well, we know each other now.” Shuichi drowned the rest of the coffee and set it aside. He reached into his pocket, about to pull out his wallet when Kokichi shook his head. “Wh-”

“You go have fun, Saihara-chan. Just come back to see me, alright?” Kokichi grinned. “Otherwise, I’m going to cry and bother my coworkers. And it’s’ going to be all your fault because Saiha-”

“I get it. I’ll come back, I promise.” Shuichi immediately said as he got out of the stool. “Thank you for the coffee...Ummm…” He glanced at where Kokichi should be wearing a name tag. “....Um...do I get a name?”

“I think you get a name the next time you see me. A promise is a promise.” Kokichi bargained.

“Right, alright, then. Stay safe.” Shuichi said as he walked out the door.

Well, Kokichi wondered how long that would last.

X

  
  


Kokichi unlocked the door to the apartment and tossed his apron to the side while he kicked his shoes off at the genkan. He noticed that three of his members were lined up on the floor across the room, legs up against the wall, and looking at him owlishly upside down. “What are you clowns doing?” He asked as he approached cautiously. They moved the mirror to the other side of the living room for this and moved the couch.

Widow had her eyes closed, and her hands serenely clasped around her middle, her chest rising and falling as though she were asleep. Her hair was neatly tucked back against her neck in a horrible makeshift pillow. Her skirt was thankfully covering her modestly. The only sign that she gave that she was awake was that she kept wiggling her rose-red painted toes.

Trick was also there. The shape of his hair was getting crushed by the floor, and Kokichi could hear the gel or hairspray crack and crinkle as Trick moved his head. There were paint splatters that covered his redshirt and blended in with the black of his pants. 

Shuffle was the first one to look up at him, her customary pigtails were unrestrained, and her wavy hair was sprawled around her like a mermaid underwater. One of her overall straps were unbuttoned, and he noticed that one sock on her foot was white with stars, and on the other foot was rainbow-colored stripes. “Hey, Ouma-sama-san. We’re resting.”

“We have beds. What’s with the yoga pose? Don’t tell me you guys are going to start chanting and humming.” Kokichi stated as he approached closer, he used his foot against Trick’s head and got a whine as Trick begrudgingly scooted over to make room for Kokichi. 

Kokichi flung his legs up against the wall. He groaned when he felt the stretch go from the heel down the back of his legs. He could feel something pop and align back into place. “Maybe we should do yoga more often.” He mused thoughtfully. 

“Fold could probably teach. I can’t see you in a studio anytime soon.” Shuffle teased as she turned her head back to stare up the ceiling. “We were bored, so we thought we could do this for a bit.”

“This 

boring,” Kokichi realized that he had to change his breathing pattern if he wanted to survive in this pose. He had to breathe deeper in the diaphragm and keep a steady rhythm. Shallow breaths weren’t going to get him anywhere here. “What are we even doing here?”

“Chillin.” Trick answered. “We sold the painting and donated the funds.” 

“Neat.” Kokichi closed his eyes, “I met the detective.”

“Oh yeah?” Kokichi could hear Shuffle moving. “What’s he like?”

“A nervous wreck. He didn’t recognize me, and for a minute there, I didn’t recognize him. Who the fuck wears a turtle neck sweater in the summer?!” Kokichi didn’t think that would bother him so much. “Also, he’s friends with Amami-chan.”

“I like Amami-san.” 

“Amami-kun’s pretty cool. How does the detective know him? Wait, does that mean we’re not going to get to call him the detective anymore? He was a detective, or was that just a fantasy of yours that was playing out?” Trick questioned.

Kokichi didn’t have to open his eyes to reach over and pinch Trick’s arm. The loud protest he got from it made him smile. “Shuichi Saihara.”

Widow made a soft noise, and Kokichi opened his eyes and propped himself up on his elbows to look over at the more silent member of their group. “You recognize the name, Wids?” He asked curiously.

Trick reached into his pocket and tossed his phone over Kokichi’s body, and it landed with a small thud against Shuffle’s stomach. “Thanks, Trick.” Shuffle groaned as she picked up the phone and handed it to Widow.

Kokichi waited as he watched Widow’s thumbs dance across the touch screen, her bottom lip pulled in concentration. It would be much easier to Sign, but Widow wasn’t going to force them to get out of being comfortable so that she could make a comment or two. She handed the phone back to Shuffle, who passed it to Kokichi.

“No.” Kokichi said blankly, keeping the phone just in case Widow gestured for him to hand it back to her. “But Saihara-chan isn’t a homicide detective. Did someone do murder and isn’t telling me about it?” A shadow fell over his face, and he lowered his voice to a sinister tone, “Don’t make me tickle that information out of you. I can’t believe if one of my family members broke one of my sacred rules.”

“Yeah because Ouverte-kun is the type to go after someone with an ax,” Shuffle deadpanned. 

“Can you imagine Honor with a knife?” Trick commented. “I mean, I know he can cook and all, but remember when I slammed myself with the door?”

“That was a hard whack, and that looked like it hurt.” 

Kokichi hummed. “So Saihara-chan is a different type of detective, you think? He did mention that he was a private investigator. Don’t they usually go after missing people?”

Widow gestured, and Kokichi tossed the phone lightly so that Shuffle didn’t have to keep being the one playing “hot potato”. Thumbs once more typed at a rapid-fire pace before tossing the phone back to him.

“Hey not to be like, rude or anything, but isn’t this chillin’ time?” Trick raised his arms over his head, and a loud series of pops echoed through and caused all three members to get up onto their elbows if they weren’t already there, to look over at him. “I feel like I learned what Nirvana feels like.”

“You need a chiropractor.” Shuffle stared at him. “What the actual hell, Trick?”

“We don’t comment on you not being able to wear matching socks, Shuffle. We don’t comment on me being Atlas.” 

“I’m commenting on you being Atlas. I thought I was stressed.” Shuffle groaned. “So we know that the detective is a private eye and assigned on our case. Well, he’s gonna get agitated when he finds out that we have nothing here.”

“He’s going to be equally surprised when he finds out where that painting is going too.” Trick helpfully supplied.

Kokichi sighed as he pulled his legs off the wall. The tingly sensation was a bit too much for him, and he was getting bored from just lying there. They could do it all day long, but it appeared they were getting bored as well. All of them shifted into seated positions, and Kokichi stood up. “I’m going to check on Slinky.”

“Asuka-chan’s been playing with her all day, so she should be tuckered out a bit.” Shuffle grinned.

“Thanks.” Kokichi gave them a grin before he headed back to his room, his mind whirling. What would Saihara Shuichi do? Petting his ferret and brooding over the topic sounded like an excellent time to practice monologuing. He couldn’t afford to have those seconds wasted on just running and breathless comments.

X

Kokichi twirled the pen in his fingers as he looked at the computer thoughtfully. The red cylinder was casually rolling and flipping through his fingers as though he was making it dance to a tuneless song. His eyes scoured the article, looking for any hint about his crimes. He didn’t mind the publicity, but he was less of a person just to plaster it on his walls. He already knew what a good thief he was. Him getting caught wasn’t going to happen this time.

However, when he decided to get a little more specific, he noticed that there had been an article just recently published. Curious, he clicked on the headline.

  
  


Besides the basics of the case -the stolen painting, the creator of it was, and the location-there wasn’t much to say. The security guards caught a small man that wore nothing but white that looked like a straight jacket, carried a cape and a hat, and wore a clown mask. No one got a better look at the person.

Until someone thought it was a good idea to interview Shuichi Saihara. He was a recent graduate from university who was pursuing his uncle’s path of being a private detective. The two were currently working together but were separating the cases differently. At the moment, Shuichi’s full focus was on the art theft as he said it was “curious to see who it was that was behind the theft.” His uncle was taking over the missing person’s case.

In quoted words, Shuichi spoke, “We don’t know his motivation or what he’s trying to convey by stealing the paintings. I don’t think there’s much of a clear message. Still, I do know that he’s been stealing from organizations that do not have a spotless record with the public or with their private communities. Whether the thefts are out of revenge or are out of anger and vengeance for the wrongs these organizations have, I don’t know. What I do know is that this person isn’t working alone. No one could’ve gotten into the building by themselves.”

It amused Kokichi. With such little information, Shuichi was able to corner him in only one direction. Of course, he wasn’t hiding his subordinates. They were the cameramen; they were the getaway drives. Shuichi was bound to know that. However, he appreciated the background check to the organizations that he was currently after. He placed his hand in his cheek, mindlessly skimming after reading Shuichi’s interview.

“Shuichi Saihara.” He mused quietly. “You just got my interest.”

  
  
  
  
  
  



	6. Anything For You (Oumeno)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 6: Talentswap Au/Friendship. 
> 
> Kokichi is requested by Princess Himiko to meet him at a restaurant where she will give him a story that would make or break his career.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for Ouma Month for hosting this event! Thank you to those who subscribed, kudos, bookmarked, commented, and read my story! I appreciate all of you.

Kokichi tapped his pen rapidly on the table, staring at the interior of the restaurant with impatience. It is just like royalty to make the peasants wait. He can not say the scene is not easy on the eyes. Dark woods polished to glimmer the overhead lighting, mixed with red-wined carpet and sweet scents of food mixing and intermingling in the air. His pen fills the silence of the restaurant. The Princess had outdone herself, requesting the entire building to be empty of people save for the waiters and the cooks, and Kokichi. He wondered what possibly could be on the royal’s mind to suggest such a thing.

A part of him wonders if she would spill the most heinous of crimes. The blood-soaked history was washed away with heroism and martyrdom. It would be quite a story to snag his teeth into, but he already had a career under his feet because of it. Fame was not a taste unfamiliar to Kokichi, but one that he yearned to have in his mouth for a long time. 15 minutes could not top a decade. Getting whatever story out of the royal would make it so.

He was used to waiting. He waited for his chance, he bided his time during the imprisonment. He held himself back, and she bared her soul and heart to him. In turn, he tore down the walls of his heart and of the Kingdom. To discover who she truly was, did not make him love her less, but he was certain feelings on her side changed dramatically. He never let her have a chance to explain. He disappeared into the Kingdom’s crowd for a year.

Kokichi’s timepiece says that it has been ten minutes. He wondered if this was a test to see how long he would sit and stare. He was not used to acting like an obedient dog promised treats for listening to simple instruction. She promised him a story worth gold. He could handle humiliation and humbleness. 

The jingle of a bell alerted Kokichi to sit up. He stopped tapping his pen, and cooly got himself into position. He slumped down the seat of the booth. His eyes kept to the window as though he had been people-watching and bored out of his mind. His finger tapping the inner crook of his elbow, following the rhythm of the pen. Inside his head, he can still hear the echoing taps. 

“Nyeh, this is such a pain,” the Princess grumbled as she slid herself into the booth. Kokichi’s eyes flicked towards her and then lingered. Her strawberry red hair was too short to do any complicated style with. Still, her bangs were pinned back with a bobby pin that had a dice ornament fixated onto it. Typically red dresses were cut to show off most of the female figure. Kokichi was pleased to see that the Princess’s dress was more tailored to Sunday attire. A square collar and long sleeves that stopped at thin wrists. A black belt at her middle as though to hold the dress up when it was clearly not needed. She wore no crown or any symbol of authority on her body. 

It explained the reasoning as to why she requested Kokichi to wear black. Kokichi did not have money to spend in a cavalier manner. While he was a writer and well known throughout the country and world, Kokichi kept living under his means. The coin distributed among different kinds of charities and events. He did not like the idea of saving more to himself when there were those who had little. Regardless, a second-hand suit that was tailored to his body by his family members should hold up to her standards.

Before Kokichi could say a word to her about her entrance, the server approached the table with hesitancy. Kokichi could not blame him for not wishing to come closer. Having two of the most influential people in the world sitting at a booth, facing each other as though they were ready to spat, was not a place a bystander should be. Yet Kokichi admired the fact the server had a brave facade and approached nonetheless.

“A bottle of your finest,” Kokichi ordered before the Princess could open her mouth. He could feel her stare creep on his skin. “The lady will be paying for it naturally.”

The Princess frowned deeply but decided not to refute. The server did not seem to understand what to do with that information. He tripped over himself to get away from the table. Kokichi grinned and turned towards the royalty. “What? You know all too well that I have little to no coin in my pocket, Himimiko.” 

“Do you always have to be such a bother? You could offer to help split it, you know.” Himiko frowned, tugging on her bangs with a sigh. “Am I going to be paying for your food too? You’re really troublesome.” It was though they never parted. 

“Troublesome? Me? After everything that we’ve been through, I would like to think that I have reached some sort of favor with you.” The familiarity maybe what would get him kicked out of this establishment faster than he could run. However, Himiko did not order for him to leave or demand the server to return and force him to act like a knight when he was clearly a page. Perhaps he was still her friend, as terrible as he was. 

Himiko, on the other hand, looked towards the window, her expression as bored as he was when he had waited. He pursed his lips together, “You know what I want.”

“A story.” Himiko let her gaze fall from the window and landed on the table before them. Kokichi wondered what was going through her mind at this very moment. What thoughts were conjuring in her mind? What thoughts was she actively trying to brush away, and what ideas did she cling to? 

Considering that he had saved her and her friends not too long ago. At the near expanse of his own life. His scars still itched underneath the shoddy suit. “I want one, Himiko, that the world doesn’t know about.” Kokichi picked the pen up and leisurely began tapping the end of the pen against the wood. “Tell me a story that would have the world gasp and crumble if you want. Tell me a story that will build our nation back up from the ashes that it was in. Come on, Himimiko, what story was my life worth?”

“Holding onto a reward does not make you look attractive,” Himiko rolled her eyes, “it makes you look desperate.” A jab that should have been lighthearted, but still hit its target all the same. 

Desperate. It was as though she even knew the word intimately. Kokichi knew the expression. Desperate was fighting against a poison that was said not to have a cure. Desperate was spending his last moments, trying to come up with a plan to get them free. Finding a lost princess and bringing her back to the throne was not an easy task. She came from something and was nothing to become something again. Kokichi did not have such a foothold and was scrambling to keep whatever he could. 

“You are to marry.” Kokichi decided to come out and say it. It was not a secret. The nation knew of it and wanted to celebrate it. A commoner like himself had no place in a palace or by Himiko’s side, but he was still itching for that dream. “Give me that story.” He did not want the pain of being here longer.

“Ugh. No.” It was less resistance, less complaining. Himiko’s expression soured as though she tasted a lemon. Gratefully, the server returned with the bottle and two glasses. The server uncorked the bottle and poured the liquid in crystal goblets. The most delicate glassware the restaurant could have. Kokichi casually sipped his first, tasting the alcoholic chemical before he could sample the sweet aftertaste of it. The nuances escaped him, but if he was requested, he was confident he could make up several different things.

“The red that was requested is Petrous Pomerol, a Merlot-” Himiko appeared to wish that she could crawl underneath the table. It was a hefty wine, and the price tag already was at a peak. Kokichi did not mind watching the princess squirm uncomfortably. “-it will pair well with any meat dish that you select.”

“I see! You have done well, Server-chan.” He turned to Himiko. “Shall we leave our order up to them to decide for us? I do believe that they deserve to showcase their five-star dish that goes well with the wine if I say so myself.”

“You always say so yourself.” Himiko sighed. “I do not care...just do not cook it over well.”

“Hear that? Rare for the vampire!”

“Vampire?” The server squeaked.

“Medium rare,” Himiko corrected. “Do not bother with him. Tall tales.”

The server did not seem to know what to believe, but he took the request and quickly ambled his merry way from the booth. Kokichi leaned in, arms lightly folded on the table. The cooling surface felt grounding to him. A reminder that this was not a date or a romantic encounter. Those were dead and gone now.

“No?” He repeated her answer from a moment ago.

Himiko reached and touched the bobby pin that he gifted her before knowing her blood and her status. He still could not believe the lazy maiden that he found beaten and bruised on the side of the road was now dressed in silks that would cost him more than skin. “I do not like the arrangement, and I am simply not doing it. There is no story there, Kokichi.”

Hearing his first name again made him wonder what the sudden change was. “Hey, hey, what are you doing? You know you are going to be breaking a thousand hearts doing that.” He pressed a finger against his cheek, baffled. “You should be trying to f-”

“Why have you not been answering my letters?” Himiko looked at him, and Kokichi felt the blithe charade disappear like water slipping between fingers. The guilt turned into a hard rock that formed in his stomach, reminding him that she had tried to reach out long before this. “Why did it take a promise of a piece for you to come to meet me?”

“What is there to answer? You have your life, free of worries and concerns. The nation is happy. The people are excited. You got your happy ending, Yumeno-chan.” Now he wondered what the point of that was. When he had so graciously been calling her by her first. Envy was a demon better faced behind closed doors. He ignored her question, unwilling to relent.

“Where is your happy ending Kichi?” Himiko was not relenting this time. Her tone still drawled as though it took an effort to say even the smallest sound, but the delivery was again pointed sharp and pointed at Kokichi’s chest. 

Kokichi had a sentence dance on the tip of his tongue and vibrate on his lips. He quickly zipped his lips shut. A different mask was needed for this conversation, it appeared. “Why! Is this deceit?” Himiko’s blink was languid. “Dearest Yumeno-chan, my heart is breaking. Do you think I am not happy? I am ecstatic I-”

“Are a liar and a fraud.” Himiko cut him off, “I know.”

“Then, by all means, if you know what I am going to say, may as well finish my sentence for me.” Kokichi gestured for her to take the floor.

She looked away from the conversation and from Kokichi. Apathy tightened her face in a way that Kokichi was not used to seeing her wear. The crown was heavy on her head and in her heart. Her shoulders were holding more stress than he could imagine, and they had fought and nearly died for the Kingdom they were now sitting in.

Kokichi was not sure what this was about anymore. 

“You...vanished,” Himiko said after a moment, “as you do. As you always do, when it is convenient for you. I used to yell at you for leaving me behind. I used to have to grab at your tailcoats, I used to scramble to fit in with your lies and stories. Do you remember the tavern?”

“Which one? We spent the night in so many.” Kokichi already knew.

She was going to tell him anyway, “A bard was playing a song that you knew from childhood, and you encouraged me to dance on the tabletops. The bartender was sure to toss us out, but you got the crowd roaring on their feet. They danced as though they never danced before. The melancholy of that room disapperated, and we laughed and laughed and laughed. My stomach still hurts from it.”

The story was not the one he was after, but he was no longer confident what story he could be after. He was promised to make his career stand. He was assured fame and fortune, and like the thief that he was deep underneath selfless and selfish desires of base humanity, he took what he desired. 

The treasure that he wanted most, Himiko, could not offer. She could not be willing to offer.

Yet she was trying to offer it to him anyway. He pondered who indeed was the fool here. Him for deciding to have a heart and feelings? Her for choosing that her heart and feelings meant more than the nation, the country? They rebuilt this Kingdom from scraps of wood, broken morale, shattered windows, and dreams. They picked up sharp edges of criticism and weapons, just so that they could stand again. Just so that Himiko could rule still. 

Her family was dead and gone, and she was trying to make more waves. He wondered when the tables have turned. His desire to be with her hadn’t wavered over a year, and neither has hers. The difference between the two was that he was willing to give her up. If it meant saving their country from another wave of despair, and from ruining her reputation, he would do it. She was willing to let the country die from despair to have him.

He wasn’t sure which path was the correct one to walk on. Neither of them was moral people. Kokichi’s only saving grace was that he was willing to die before he murdered someone. Himiko’s was her bravery when she decided to not be lethargic. 

His heart quickened in his chest, as though realizing that he was genuinely considering the nonsensical proposition. 

“I promised you a story.” Himiko continued, as though she did not just tug the carpet from underneath him. “That’s the story I want you to have.”

He remembered being cradled in her arms as the poison ransacked his body. He remembered vomiting in front and on her, and all she could do was sigh. He remembered how the fever made his body sore, his muscles cramp. He remembered the sightless nightmares that plagued him but could not recall after waking. He remembered switching from hot to cold to hot again as he could not decide whether he wanted to burn alive or die from hypothermia. 

Embellished, possibly, but the sentiment remained. Himiko had seen him at his weakest point. Death was neigh for him, and hope was a kind and yet malicious lie all at once. Kokichi could not blame the healers or Himiko’s friends for attempted comfort. They were all holding out that he would live. For some miraculous reason, he did. He lived...and he ran like the coward that he was when he saw the crown placed on Himiko’s head and the dawning realization of what was never meant to be.

Letters came from her, as she stated. He wrote no reply, but he dared not open them either. Each one stuffed in tomes and drawers, hidden nooks, and crannies around his home. He worried about each letter he received until it became a habit to merely hide than to ponder. The only reason why he knew about the impending marriage was merely a coincidence. Listening to people’s discussion was a talent of his.

“It’s so...tiring to explain how emotions work. This all so simple.” Himiko sighed. “I’m wasting my breath with this, am I not? You...already made your decision. I was a fool to-”

“I was a fool to run.”

Himiko stared at him.

“You told me that you’d give me a story, and you have. Not one that I wanted, but...one that I needed.” Kokichi sighed. “I thought I was doing you a favor. A princess did not need a common boy who thought he knew how to lead. You were going to find a prince. You were going to become a queen. That realization hit me as though I was ducked in cold water. I could not stand it. So I merely left. I thought I was kind, in disappearing. In not answering your letters.”

“Did you not read any?”

Kokichi merely shook his head.

“Nyeeeehhhh.” Himiko groaned as she fell back into the booth, losing the princess-composure that she graced him with. Right then, Kokichi realized that he was not looking at Princess Himiko Yumeno, the savior of the Kingdom. The True Heiress. The Forgotten Bloodline. “I knew that was wasted effort...I could have spent my time better…”

“I kept them.” He had to relent. She already did too much. It was his turn now. Even if it hurt. The mask was already crumbling to dust. He was just holding onto pieces now. “They are located in my household. I know where each and every one of them is.”

Himiko merely groaned again.

The server arrived with plates of food, and the aroma made both stomachs grumble. Kokich reached for the wine, with intent to drink more. He was already feeling him getting high from giddiness that there was just something exciting to be had here. “To new adventures.” He offered his goblet towards her.

“To you not being such a pain anymore.”

“Why I’d never.”


	7. Check (Ouma-Centric)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 7: Mastermind AU/Fiction vs. Reality
> 
> He looked at his chessboard, wholly set with one white king on one side of the board, and all-black pieces staring him down. They didn’t get to have a King. They, currently, were leaderless. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to Ouma Month for hosting this event! Thank you for the kudos, the subscriptions, the hits, the comments, and the bookmarks. You are so wonderful for sticking with me this far.

The motive might’ve been a little hasty. He wasn’t used to standstills and hesitancy. Most of the players would hear the word “mastermind” or “owl” and immediately pick the most suspicious person. He should have let that stewed for a bit longer, but...it was so dull waiting around for something exciting to happen. Some so many contenders had so much potential about what they could do. What they could become. He was even gracious enough to give them  _ Talents _ , like the predecessors before him, the Despairs, and the Future Foundation. 

Surely, they would come up with something! Two days wasn’t a long time. He wasn’t going to expect anything to happen during day one, but it sure would be interesting if someone jumped the gun.

He looked at his chessboard, wholly set with one white king on one side of the board, and all-black pieces staring him down. They didn’t get to have a King. They, currently, were leaderless. 

His grin lazily stretched across his face.

X

Seeing Rantaro’s dead body in the library made his heart drop a little. He really had high hopes for his rook to last a little bit longer. He let Rantaro have a perk and all these tools to his advantage. Maybe he should have been an All-Stars rather than just picked the two winners of the last game. Honestly. He thought that Kaede would be the one hanging from a thread. Not Shirogane, who was stabbed multiple times into a makeshift doll to burn in a fire! 

Then again, Shirogane and Rantaro loved that girl who helped them solve the mysteries and was by their side in season 52. He flicked the pawn across the board lazily. They didn’t even get a chance to move from their spaces. Meanwhile, the Queen was already in front of three pawns. He wondered if these were people he should worry about, or if he should see how far they come. He still had the right amount of players left to manipulate and play with.

Now, what could their next motive be? He reached for the darts and tossed it at the board curiously.

X

Angie was starting to worry him. He gnawed at the thumbnail as he stared at the chessboard, now disfigured into groups. The Queen was with the four pawns still. The knight was with two pawns. A knight always stayed faithfully at the side like he was supposed to. The bishop was starting to make moves around the board himself, isolated. 

He was grateful that he didn’t have to come up with another motive. Admittedly having two pawns kill each other off didn’t make for an exciting game. The motive of being needed and not being needed had been lame at best. He could’ve figured something else out, but they took the bait, and that was all that he could wish for.

Angie was someone to fear. She had already nabbed his faithful knight into her circle as well as his polite and friendly rook. Having two characters that he thought were going to be influential in the game fall for a woman’s ensnarement didn’t bode well for him. He supposed that he could downgrade the knight to a pawn, and give it to another influential piece, but...his eyes lazily scanned the board. 

So far, the Queen was the only one that was making anything interesting here. To give him a downgrade to a knight and move Angie to Queen would be nothing more than embarrassment. He couldn’t do that to him. Not at all.

However, Kokichi pursed his lips and rubbed them. There was a threat, and a threat needed to be eliminated. He wondered if anyone else could tell the game’s tide changed. He flipped a coin twice.

Temporarily, he grudgingly gave Angie the title Queen. He gave his beloved the knight, restricting his movement. He also decided not to provide a motive.

But he sure as well would give an award.

X

The Queen was dead! He tossed the piece across the room in anger, and in happiness, the two emotions buzzing around him, unable to mesh correctly in his mind. The Queen was dead. Oh, thank god for giving that award! He knew that Tenko would never let something happen to her precious friend. He also knew that Korekiyo, the one who watched an observed, would show some mercy. He wasn’t a heartless bastard like some of these players that were in the game. He picked the piece up from the ground and held it up to the light.

Angie was fucking dead, and that meant he could play the game exactly how it was meant to be played. 

He moved the rook to his side of the board, he tossed the knight into a fire. He gave the Queen’s Title back to the one that it belonged to in the first place. Now that he was allowing the movements to be open again, he looked at the three pawns that were surrounding the figure. 

The rook was now on his side. He had to honor the rules, if anything. 

He promoted a pawn to a knight. 

X

  
  


It was charming of Miu to think for a second that she could have a chance to defeat him. Like he didn’t keep eyes on every single inch of the school. Like he didn’t know that her lab was bugged and monitored. She really shouldn’t be talking to Keeboy the way that she was as well. What? Did she think that robot had nothing to do with this game at all? Why, if that was the case, then Miu certainly didn’t have a brain that she boasted about.

She was nothing more than a dumb whore that’d spread her legs for anything that moved. She loved a robot for christ’s sake. A human would have more flesh and warmth than a robot that could only talk in code and false emotions. He’ll give her the lie, though. He was nice like that.

Meanwhile, he eyed the rook who stayed far back on the board as possible. The groups of pieces were moving further and further across the board. The rook was now his to do as he wants. He was isolated; he wasn’t going to have any friends, he could keep him alive and through the game.

At the same time, the Queen was acting suspiciously as well. Falling in love with a pawn. He liked fairy-tale stories like that. 

He can worry about those two things later.

Right now, he had a whore to butcher, and he knew exactly what piece to use to do it.

X

  
  


She was becoming trouble. The pawn turned knight was becoming a thorn in his side, and he hated it. He thought the Queen and the pawn were annoying, but a knight sticking her nose where it shouldn’t be was where it was going to get chopped off. Of course, no one was thrilled with the idea that a murderer walked among them. 

So he outed Maki to be the same. Oh, they disliked him for killing off his pure-hearted knight. Gonta was too easy to persuade, and the whole game was going to his leisure. It was now just the snag of two murderers and a group of pawns that thought that they could be something to the Queen.

He rested his hand against his cheek, thoughtfully. How to do this...without making it look forced or stretched. What motive could he possibly give that would cause the assassin to react?

Well, knights did have one fault.

X

Pieces were toppled over the gameboard. The side had lost their bishops and their knights. Kiriumi, Korekiyo, Gonta, and Maki. Angie used to be a knight, but she was no longer in any status to be considered. She had been so close to ruining the entire game that he didn’t see any reason to throw a fake memorial for her. No one was going to miss the manipulative bitch. 

They were sure as hell wasn’t going to miss him anytime soon, either. He was too obnoxious for their liking. Even when he pretended to be friends with everyone, the Queen must have noticed by now where his interest lay. Every time the Queen came to him, trying to solve the mystery, the Queen left befuddled.

The pawn that stuck by his side was so annoying. Her leadership was falling apart; the more people were willing to die. She tried to make the friendship was magic trope, but he wasn’t about that life. No, if she was going to play that game, she needed to play it hardcore. There was a reason why Ryoma, Tenko, Miu, and Angie didn’t listen to her. She was too sparkly. Too pretty. 

Words like that didn’t belong in a game like this. It was getting more comfortable to just poke and prod at a little wound to convince them to murder. He rarely had to use the dart wheel, and rolling the dice was more of a fidget than it was used to make a decision. They were all doing it without him. Every single one of them falling deeper and deeper into despair.

He wondered if perhaps he should be kind for the last round. After all, he still had a rook and a Queen.

X

He slammed the door in anger and in spite. He hadn’t expected this. He didn’t fucking plan for this. He threw himself into his chair and quickly scattered the pieces across the board onto the floor. He tossed the board to the wall, hearing it bang and echoed around the room. He shook, blood dripping down from his lip.

He didn’t expect Kaede to help Kaito in assisting with his suicide. He hadn’t expected the blonde to worry so much about the bleeding, stupid, oaf of a man to actually do something about it. She gave him the poison from the Queen’s lair and took some herself. She knew that she would be tortured and executed if she found out.

It reminded him of the girl of 52. The same girl who did the exact same thing. Did they change the script on him? Or was this supposed to taunt him? Was he actually the Mastermind of this game, or was he just like everyone else, playing a part on the stage? If so, then there was no way to get off. There was no way to stop saying the words and dancing to a melody that everyone was accustomed to.

He had a Queen’s wrath to deal with and a Rook’s determination to end this one and for all. There was no way that he was going to survive this. He would die. He would die. He would die. He would die.

_ Rule number one of D.I.C.E. We don’t murder. We don’t rape. We don’t do anything that’ll bring us dishonor. Okay? Petty crimes? Stealing? Go ham. _

He gripped his hair and knocked himself into his bed. A scream tore from his throat as the memory assaulted him. Fear knocked into his heart quickly. He killed. He murdered. There was no getting around that. There was no way his friends, his  _ family  _ didn’t see that? Oh who was he kidding, they were lies. Lies. Lies!

This game was all that he had. This game was all that he knew!  _ This was the best way to do it.  _ No one had to know that they were fictional. They didn’t have to know that their backstories were all made up. That there was really no reason to start a killing game.

His breath came out in sharp gasps.

He fucked up. 

_ He fucked up. _

Now he was facing two powerful pieces, and no matter what he did, he was in check.

There was no pleading for his life. There was no trying to get out of this. 

So he slipped on the only mask he knew.

Well, if the game thought he was going to make for a boring Mastermind, they thought  _ wrong.  _ Didn’t they?


	8. Nyah. You know. Nyah (Ouma-centric)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 8: Free Day

No one knows

Everyone pretends

Very few people

Ever understand

Reality’s a bore

Go and make a new world

On your own

Never rely on anyone

Not even yourself

Anyone could be the mastermind.

Go! Be with your friends

I think I could be better than them

Violence was never my strength

Even though it’s needed here.

You could be trustworthy.

Or maybe that’s a lie.

Ultimates as pawns

Ultimates as failures

Peace wasn’t going to exist for us.

No one’s going to remember me

Everyone hates me

Vanquish the villain

End the killing game

Remember when I said I was a liar?

Game masters don’t know how to run a real game.

On the condition that they have a script

Narcissists that think they know us better

Narrow-minded pieces of shit with a lack of a brain

Anyone can do better than they did

Let me down; go on. You already did it once.

Everyone says, “boo hoo, you didn’t treat Kokichi right.”

Talking like they were there.

You were there though

Only you weren’t there too.

Utterly defenseless until you needed to grow a backbone.

Do you hate me?

Obfuscating I think was the word you used to describe me once

We didn’t mesh well in the game, maybe we can fix that.

No, I know better than to assume

~

Nishishshi, YOU FUCKING FELL FOR IT! YOU ALL FELL FOR IT! THIS IS WHAT YOU GET FOR READING MY JOURNAL!

Honestly, this is a violation of privacy. You know that, right?

Then again, who’s to say anything I wrote was real, to begin with? Hey, did you like the stories that I wrote so far? Did I make you cry? Does your heart hurt? Did I make you think for a minute I could be sympathized with?

Honestly, you all are just as bad as poor naive Gonta-chan and Saihara-chan. You just don’t get it, do you?

Well, it doesn’t matter. It’s not like I can do anything.

I wonder, though. When will you get tired? When will you get bored? Don’t you find this [annoying](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpmQK_uPDpg&t=3s)? Maybe you should turn down the volume of your brain. 

Huh….

You’re very strange.

Can’t say I don’t like that. Oh well. Maybe next time you’ll get a story.

Or maybe next time you’ll see the truth.

Who knows~?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your support! Your kudos, comments, subscriptions, and bookmarks mean the world to me! Also thank you to Ouma Month for hosting this event! I'm happy to be able to join!


	9. Reminiscent (ouma-centric/past saiouma)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 9: Crossover AU/Rain 
> 
> No matter how far or wide Kokichi traversed Hyrule, nothing was more serene than Zora’s Domain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for OumaMonth for hosting this event. Thank you to everyone who left me kudos, hits, subscriptions, comments, and bookmarks. I appreciate it so much!

No matter how far or wide Kokichi traversed Hyrule, nothing was more serene than Zora’s Domain. The sound of waterfalls and rushing rivers were enough to drown the constant buzzing in Kokichi’s mind. The smell of damp earth, the bluish shine that draped the architecture in an ethereal glow wrapped around Kokichi like a familiar embrace. A home where home wasn’t. His footsteps splashed in the shallow water beneath him as he headed out from the shrine. A few Zora folk waved to him as they headed towards their sleeping ponds. Kokichi would have to see if Kodah or any of them were awake enough to let him have a bed.

He headed up the stairs. The statue of the Zora Prince stood at the entrance as though waiting for his arrival. As he climbed, he saw a couple of Zora children running around, playing a game of tag. There was also a muscular purplish colored Zora standing at the foot of Zora’s prince statue. Kokichi’s heart sank into his stomach as he also noticed that it was lightly raining outside. 

He could not help but turn to where the Vah Ruta was standing, trunk raised entirely in the air and at the ready. Even though he had few memories of the Domain and the Zora Prince, there was always a tugging in his heart that compelled him to walk over towards the statue to at least say hello.

Whoever did the carving did a talented job. The expression on the lost Zora Prince was serene as it was protective. His hand clutched over his chest, in a hopeful, almost servitude type of way. His sword that was faithfully by his side -and now in Kokichi’s house displayed- was drawn. 

His ornaments did not take away his humility or his grace. If anything, the bejeweled crown, and the ornate choker only added to his beauty. His fins were small, just barely grazing his chin. If Kokichi closed his eyes, he could remember the navy colored fish with golden eyes that could see through anything.

Kaito stood at the foot of the statue as well; arms crossed over his chest as he watched the monument. Kokichi wasn’t even sure what to say in these moments. The loss felt fresh for him, as it felt for the Zoras. He didn’t forget the soft touch of Shuichi’s hand or his magic, the soft-lit of his voice still echoed in his mind; even now when many moons and days had passed since he freed Ruta from the threshold. 

He could hear Kaede’s voice beckoning him to hurry, but sometimes he just had forced her in the back of his mind. The memories he had of her right now weren’t the greatest. A ruler with a too kind heart and anime protagonist point of view wasn’t someone he wanted to be around with right now. 

The silence echoed as did the rain. Kokichi wasn’t used to the silence. He was used to tackling the Zora children when they got too close and tickled them. He was used to telling embellished stories around a cooking fire to wearied wanderers who he met at the hotel. Laughter, Kokichi determined, was more critical than whatever this was.

Yet right now, he didn’t have the heart or the willpower to actively try to open his mouth and break the thoughts that lingered through their minds. Shuichi wouldn’t have wanted them to mourn his death. 

Kokichi still wondered to this very day what made Shuichi agree to take up his sword and fight a battle he knew he couldn’t win. “He was stupid.” Kokichi wanted to scowl. “He should’ve stayed behind.”

Kaito burst into laughter, as though Kokichi said the funniest thing in the world. “You know I used to think that back when I was a guppy.” He placed a hand on his hip, and the other one went to the back of his neck. His fins flared and recoiled as though he was in the water. Kokichi hadn’t forgotten how they risked their lives so that Kokichi could board Ruta. He may still be snarky and obnoxious, but Kokichi knew when to see an equal.

“Now?” Kokichi asked, eyes still on Shuichi’s face. He could see the Prince’s calculating expression. When he fought the Water Blight, Kokichi could easily see how the Prince could’ve fallen. He appreciated the pun, but it was still murder, and it was still underhanded. Shuichi never had a chance to defend himself. He wasn’t a long-range fighter. He was a short-ranged one.

Kaito made a soft noise. “Well. I looked up to him. Even now. He would make a better King than I would. A better Prince. He had it all figured out.”

Kokichi wondered if he did. Shuichi wasn’t going to have any heirs with him; they weren’t going to be passing along a legacy. He touched the tunic, feeling the scales and the sleek fabric that went over him. There was no mistaking that Shuichi took his time, and painstakingly took his scales from his body to give him this protection. “Did he truly love me? Or was this…?”

“Shuichi?” Kaito turned to face Kokichi finally. “Your memory must be outta wack for you to question it.” He turned back to the statue. “I wasn’t kidding. If none of this happened and that attack had been successful on the first try, you could’ve been my brother-in-law.”

Kokichi sighed, reaching up and pulling on the strand of his hair. “I wonder if I felt the same.”

“I dunno,” Kaito admitted, and he was grateful for the lack of a lie. Usually, they’d be arguing, bickering, yelling, crying, doing that before a memorial of someone that both cherished didn’t feel right. Lying felt more like a sin than it ever would if he was standing before a goddess monument. “I like to think you did. You made him laugh.”

Kokichi hummed softly. 

“Hey.” Kokcihi’s knees buckled as Kaito suddenly slammed his hand down against his shoulder. Being small compared to the length of a Zora was terrifying in its way. Kaito was the biggest one there was, besides the king that was in the throne room. The strength that he had behind the force of his actions could quickly kill Kokichi if the Zora weren’t careful. Kokichi looked up to see a razor-sharp grin. “There’s no need to wallow around and looking like he’s gone for good, you know! He’s watching out for us like he always is. The worry-wart’s probably anxious about how you’re feeling.” He let his hand go and brought it back to his side. “I know my brother like the back of my mind. It’ll be okay. Besides, if you need anything from me, just let me know! It’ll be my turn to help.”

_ And lose the last of your family?  _ Kokichi felt a bitter sense of nausea sweep in his stomach as he watched Kaito walk away. The purple-Zora wasn’t wrong, Kokichi looked back at the statue. He didn’t doubt that he worried about the ghost. He sat down on the edge of the fountain and allowed the exhaustion to sweep through him.

For a moment, he could’ve sworn he felt someone sit right next to him, a soft, clammy hand resting on top of his. 

They said that talking to the dead was supposed to be therapeutic. Maki spoke to the dead often in her village; the Rito sang songs of theirs, the Gorons built monuments and passed along celebrations and parties. The Zora’s he looked over his shoulder once more to the statue before letting his head hang. 

He hadn’t forgotten how livid all of them were when they saw him again. New and unaged. Saved but was unable to keep the rest of the Champions from their demise. Unable to save their beloved Prince, who had everyone tied around his finger. 

Kokichi didn’t blame them, of course. The memory was so long ago, but still bitter for everyone to swallow. Even now, when the recollection was fresh. 

Grief was new to Kokichi. He never knew what to do with it. Having no memories let him be more carefree. Having a mission let him have a bit of direction. Seeing the memory of Shuichi hit him with such force broke his heart for the first time. The pain still lingered in his chest and lungs when he remembered seeing the ghost walk across the water towards him.

He would never see the ghost again, but if Kokichi wanted to torture himself, he could warp back to Ruta. He could see if Shuichi was willing to talk, as they sometimes did. He could’ve asked Shuichi the questions that still lingered in his mind, but he was afraid of the answer that he would give. It was easier to accept speculation than a concrete truth.

He thought about it for a moment before deciding to say fuck it. Shuichi already knew Kaito stood at his statue every night. Every single night. Without fail. Rain, shine, misery, or not. He was always standing, as though he was trying to convey a message. Everyone had their coping mechanisms, Kokichi couldn’t tease Kaito too much about his.

One day, Kokichi wondered if he’d be brave enough to ask Shuichi. One day, he asked if he would be able to talk to him as though they were genuinely lovers. Right now, it felt as though Shuichi was putting as much distance as he could between them without pushing him away. Kokichi understood that line of reasoning too. The dead, unfortunately, can no longer love back.

Even if the living missed, and loved still. 


	10. Have You Heard of D.I.C.E? (D.I.C.E-Centric)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 10: Circus AU/DICE/Trickery
> 
> "Have you heard about the D.I.C.E family circus?"
> 
> Dialogue only.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for OumaMonth for hosting this event. Thank you for the kind hits, kudos, bookmarks, subscriptions, and comments that you guy have been leaving behind. You are amazing and I appreciate you.

“Have you head about the D.I.C.E family circus?”

“Oh my gosh, you heard of it too? It’s been everywhere on the net.”

“I actually went to D.I.C.E circus once. It’s never what you think it’s going to be. For example, the Ringleader? He’s always interacting with the group, right? But you never see him. You see him at the beginning of the show, and at the end! But you never see him anywhere else. You get this idea that he’s there. A hint of some sort, but...you can’t put your finger on it.”

“Well, I think that’s because everyone’s distracted by the other acts right? With the trapeze artists for example. Wasn’t there someone down below them throwing things upwards and they had to dodge out their way?”

“No, I don’t think so, I think you’re thinking of the juggler whose down below the trapeze artists. Did you know one of them dropped once and he still had one of the pins up in the air? The artist snatched it on her way down and landed right in his arms. It was like they planned it! I heard later it was an accident.”

“I bet it looked like an accident, but it was completely planned.”

“I don’t know, I think even the actors were terrified.” 

“Forget about that! I don’t know if anyone’s been to one recently, but I heard they have a magician now.”

“Oh, the magician girl? What’s her name...Himiko Yumeno? She used to be a solo act. What made her join up D.I.C.E?”

“No idea, but apparently she’s in it now.”

“You know, back when she was solo she would collaborate with D.I.C.E every once in a while if they were in the same area. They never introduced her to the stage or anything. She was always wearing a black witch outfit along with a hat. Completely gaudy if you ask me.”

“Oh my god, I remember seeing this one act that they did together -I think it was the Ringleader- was goading her about how magic wasn’t real and she forced him to pull a bouquet of flowers from the hat. When he told her anyone could do that with her hat, she told him to demonstrate.”

“Yeah, I heard about that. Didn’t he pull out a white tiger cub that bit him?”

“That was a fake bite.”

“I heard it was real. The Ringleader was bleeding all over the place.”

“Pretty sure that was fake blood. He did that before when he had Peko Pekoyama toss a knife at him.”

“Oh yeah back before she retired to get married!”

“I remember that. She threw the knife at his stomach right?”

“No no, it was the hand! The hand!”

“Oh yeah, he just made it seem like it was his stomach if I remember right.”

“You know, now that you mentioned it. I heard that the reason why Yumeno stopped being a solo act was that D.I.C.E had something on her and forced her into their hold.”

“D.I.C.E is a  _ circus.  _ Not a criminal  _ organization _ !” 

“I mean, didn’t Peko Pekoyama marry a yakuza heir?”

“Why do you guys believe rumors? That’s so dumb! The reason why she didn’t announce that she was getting married, let alone who she was marrying, was because her husband requested to be kept out of the spotlight! It’s why she retired! She just wanted to give her husband some peace.”

“God that’s so anti-feminist, she should be working if she wants to be working.”

“H...how the fuck?”

“ _ Disregarding  _ that. God, you’re so  _ stupid.  _ How do you guys know they’re not a criminal organization? Isn’t there like...a bunch of crimes that are linked to them, to begin with?”

“What do you mean?”

“I  _ mean  _ every time D.I.C.E shows up, there’s always something stolen and they’re always gone before it’s even recognized. I heard they’re  _ wanted _ .”

“That is such a rumor and a lie I don’t even know where to begin to dismantle that.”

“I heard Shuichi Saihara is investigating it and he had the same thought I did.”

“Okay, so mister detective and you are stupid. Can we move on?”

“I never have seen any of their acts before...but the way you guys are describing them sounds just....wild.”

“Oh man, wait till you hear about the contortionist.”

“Th-the what now?”

“They’re people that can bend in ways the human body shouldn’t be able to do. They have one. D.I.C.E has a girl who can curl up in such a small ball. They stuffed her in a suitcase and then she turned herself into a ball. There were these two strong men that tossed her.”

“I heard they used her as a volleyball!”

“I mean I guess they could, but I’m not sure anyone wants to risk pushing up the body like that. It’s better just to toss like a ball.” 

“There’s another kid in there that can swallow things.”

“Ew! Oh my god!!!!”

“That’s….”

“Dangerous? He swallowed a snake from what I recall. Turned it into a bird. I never knew what happened to the snake. He can also swallow fire and spit it out too. Oh, and of course the classic sword swallow.”

“Oh my god. Oh my  _ god _ .” 

“That’s plain awful!”

“They really are a lot of fun to go watch. If they ever come by the area, we should try to get tickets or something.”

“I don’t know. If they’re part of some organization that’s bad, I don’t think I wanna be apart of it.”

“Dude. Rumor.”

“I think it could be fun! I mean...how bad can a group clowns actually  _ be _ ?”

“I mean that’s exactly it. The people that robbed those places? Were dressed as clowns!”

“So? Are we gonna arrest every single clown that we have sights on? Silly, that’s a waste of resources. Yeah. Totally let me know if you’re going to go see D.I.C.E. Even if they are criminals, they sound worthwhile.”

“Oh believe me...they’re worth the price.”

  
  
  



	11. To Win A War (slight oumeno)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 11: Royalty AU/Triumph/Leadership
> 
> During the coronation, Kokichi spends time reflecting upon the friends he made, the leader he wants to become, and the person he wants to cherish.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much Ouma Month for hosting this event, I'm so glad to be a part of it. Thank you to those who left me bookmarks, kudos, comments, hits and subscriptions. I'm absolutely floored by your support.

The coronation party was in full swing. The moment the crown was placed on Kokichi’s head, he decided to abandon all pretenses of formality. He pointed at the bards, Kaede, who was nearest and demanded music to play. He grabbed the closest person that he could find, a stranger with a suit and a mustache that just made him look like a hidden predator, and swung him around the dance floor. The mood caught on, and now Kokichi was on the sidelines, watching as his people flocked to each other, taking partners and twirling them around. 

A long time ago, Kokichi wouldn’t have believed this to be the ending that he would’ve gotten. A prince who was sullied and tossed to the side and Enoshima’s Empire almost took over. He found friends on his journeys to the different kingdoms of Hope’s Peak and Jabberwock. He persuaded them to his side, offering anything that he could if they’d help him knock the Empire down, once and for all.

His eyes wandered over towards where Rantaro was on the sidelines. The green-haired male dressed formally for the occasion. Gone was the usual traveler’s tunic and muddied pants. Instead, Shirogane went out of her way to create coattails and tighter pants. The jewelry that pierced his ears and adorned his fingers stayed. The necklace undoubtedly tucked behind the collar. 

X

_ Kokichi shivered violently as the man ushered him closer to the fire. He wasn’t sure if he could trust a stranger, but Kokichi didn’t have a choice if he didn’t want to die. His clothes were drenched and clung to him like a second skin. His lips wouldn’t stop shivering, and his back teeth clacked as he tried to stop it. The man sat him down and, without warning, brought his arm around Kokichi’s shoulders. _

_ “I-I di-di-didn’t know th-th-this was a d-d-date,” Kokichi said through chattering teeth. His tongue nearly bitten a few times as he tried to spat the words out. “R-R-Rantaro-c-ch-chan is b-being a-a-awful-ly for-forward!” _

_ “How about you don’t talk until you can say a sentence that makes sense?” Rantaro offered instead. He reached for his pack and set it on his lap, all without disengaging his arm around from Kokichi. When he moved, Kokichi caught the upwind scent of musk and mud, as well as saltwater from an ocean. Rantaro pulled out a tin mug, and he poured a liquid from a flask into it.  _

_ Kokichi watched as Rantaro brought the tin to the flames, for a moment, before bringing it back towards him. “Drink. It’s a little warm, but it’ll help.” _

_ Kokichi had no clue what he was drinking—born without having the ability to taste meant that he could only go by the texture of the food. Drinks rarely, if any, had a consistency to go by. Still, he had half of the mind to spit it in Rantaro’s face. However, he needed this man alive, and he needed to survive if he was going to get anywhere with his adventure. “Gross.” _

_ “Yeah, it’s not the best-tasting thing in the world, but it does in a pinch.” Rantaro laughed good-naturedly. “So, are you gonna talk?” _

_ “T-talk?” Kokichi furrowed his brows at the traveler. _

_ The man merely brought his leg up and rested his elbow on it. His palm held his chin, and fingers curved at the cheek. His gaze was penetrating but comforting like a brother who was trying to dissect a younger sibling’s problem. Kokichi’s stomach twisted horribly in his stomach, nausea starting to bubble.  _

_ He still can see their bodies. _

_ “So-sorry Rantaro.” He gulped down the drink. “You have to be level fifteen to uncover that backstory.” _

_ “Then I guess I’ll have to work for it.” Rantaro agreed amicably.  _

_ Kokichi could only blink a few times at him before laughing. “Geez. Are you telling me that I’m going to be your new adventure partner?! You may regret that, Rantaro-chan! After all, no one wants to be near me. I’m the Supreme Leader of Evil, after all!” He prayed that Rantaro would leave him behind; at the same time, the inner child of him begged not to be taken seriously. _

_ “Then I’ll be the hostage, no big deal.” Rantaro shrugged. “You wouldn’t survive out here.” _

_ It was true. _

_ “Fine. I guess I can carry your weight.” Kokichi grumbled, before realizing that he wasn’t chattering as bad as he was. “What was in this drink?” _

_ “Wouldn’t you like to know.” _

_ Kokichi found out later it was a warm-up potion, and Rantaro had been fucking with him. _

X

_ “ _ Good job Ouma!” A slam to his back made Kokcihi’s knees buckle, and his body lurched forward. He turned to see that Kaito Momota was standing next to him, alongside Maki, who was staring at him with unwelcoming red eyes. Kaito’s grin was bright and shining and irritating as ever. If Kokichi were indeed the Supreme Leader of Evil that he claimed, he’d force that mouth shut and toss him into a river where he’d have to swim for all eternity. 

The purple scheme was light violet, which matched Kokichi’s dark plum. He wondered what the fuck was up with the matching getups, and wondered if Shirogane had something to do with it. She was a big fan of the “knight” falling in love with the “prince” trope after all. He knew it threw her off when it was the rogue assassin that got his heart instead.

No matter, the trope was pretty much the same. Enemies, friends, lovers, whatever it was. Kokichi brushed his shoulder casually, “You have some nerve to come up and act like we’re friendly, Momota-chan,” he teased as he folded his arms. “What makes you think I wouldn’t call for your execution because you hit me?”

“Ruin a party like this? Ain’t your style.” Kaito replied unphased. God sometimes Kokichi missed the days where Kaito was easy to irritate and easy to get punched for. “What are you doing being broody in the background? You grabbed a few people to dance and then fucked off.”

“Why is this your way of saying that you want to dance with me?!” Before Kaito could protest, Kokcihi immediately grabbed him by the hands and swung him into the dance floor, promptly grabbing him and positioning his hands correctly. One hand on Kaito’s waist and the other in his hand. He could  _ feel Maki’s _ glare as he forced Kaito in a waltz.

X

_ “You are so FUCKING annoying!” Kaito yelled, hands on his hips. They had been traveling for days now, and there was no village in sight. Kokichi trusted Rantaro’s map and judgment far more than he believed this man, and yet here they were. They were lost as fucking sheep from the pasture. Kokichi didn’t know how to read a fucking map, but how hard could it be? _

_ Kaito was taller than he was, and he had more of a range. Kokichi was struggling to keep the map in his possession. A leader was supposed to be able to guide people. Kaito was dumber than a box of rocks. If anything happened to him, it would be on his head. He couldn’t let Kaito get them even more lost than they already were. Ugh, how did they also manage to lose the group!  _

_ Turn away for one second, Kokichi grumbled, and you’re in immediate hell. _

_ “And you’re not much better!” Kokichi shouted back. “What makes you think you can lead us out of here? Aren’t you better at reading star maps or something! Stupidhead! This isn’t a fucking star map! We aren’t aliens! Or whatever the fuck those outer space creatures are called! This isn’t hard!” _

_ “Just let me have the fucking map! You don’t know where you are! We’re losing the group and daylight! I’m not camping out here because you’re too fucking stubborn to ask for help! What kind of leader are you?! A true leader knows when it’s beyond his capabilities and asks for people to help him!” _

_ Kokichi gritted his teeth. He knew that. Look where his leadership skills got him! Tossed in a river to drown and his siblings dead, and his family slaughtered and- _

_ The map crumpled viciously in his grip. He could feel his nails threatening to tear holes into the parchment.  _

_ “What the fuck do you know about being a leader! Shuichi-chan and MakiRoll aren’t here for you to boss a-” _

_ Kokichi didn’t see the punch coming, but he knew that he deserved it. Pain blossomed in his cheek, and he lost his grip on the map as he fell to the ground, dazed. He heard Kaito come near and snatch the chart from the ground. _

_ “Honestly, you’re such a fucking annoyance, how aren’t you dead by now?” Kaito grumbled as he looked at the map. “Rantaro’s going to be fucking pissed. You ruined the map.” _

_ Kokichi felt his vision go black at the corners of his eyes. He could see the trees above him, and smell the dirt underneath him, but he wasn’t sure if he was really in his body or not. He could smell blood, and if he just turned his head he was sure he’d see his sister lying- _

_ “Kokichi? Hey! Get a hold of yourself, you moron! Hey, I’m talking to you!” _

_ Kokichi felt Kaito’s hands grip him, but all he could think about was screaming. Who was screaming? Another whack went across his face, and he startled for a moment. It was softer, less of a hit this time—more of a wake-up call. The black corners disappeared from his vision, and he felt his heart twist in his chest, trying to make up its mind about how fast it needed to beat to get him to run. _

_ His body was a livewire. _

_ He needed to run.  _

_ “HEY! Jesus fuck….” _

_ Kokichi only got more lost in the forest. He didn’t know how far he ran or where he was running to, but Kokichi managed to get to a riverbank and collapse by the side of it. He had to get a hold of himself. Having a panic attack was no way for a prince to be acting. _

_ He heard the rustling of the leaves, and he tensed before he felt someone sit next to him. He looked, and Kaito was staring at him, concerned and upset. “Going to yell at me some more, Momota-chan?” He asked glumly. “Going to tell me what a fuck up I am for a leader?” _

_ “Dude…” Kaito just sighed. “Sometimes, you just...live and learn. It’s okay to rely on other people. I don’t know what happened in your past to make you closed up like you are, but you gotta chill out. We’re all in this together. We’re going to Hope’s Peak. We’re going to do what you want. Whatever the fuck that is. I still don’t know why you think Naegi’s going to want to talk to you, but I guess I admire the thought.” _

_ “....” _

_ “Let us help. You let Rantaro read a map because you trust him, right? I know we didn’t get off the right foot. You almost got executed damn it, and I was almost the cause of it. But we gotta...we gotta work together somehow. You got to be more honest with us. In return, we’ll be more honest with you.” _

_ “Yeah? Like you being sicker than you want to admit? Because of the Despair Disease?” _

_ “How do you kno-” Kaito cut himself off, and Kokichi could only give him an unimpressed look. Kaito sighed. “Yeah. Like that.” _

_ “Hypocrite.” _

_ “Kettle meet pot.” Kaito retorted. “Now, are you going to let me lead you back to the group, or are you going to keep throwing a fit?” _

_ Kokichi sighed. _

_ “That’s the spirit! Come on! Let’s get back on our feet and try again.” _

X

“You try to do that with MakiRoll, and she’s going to have your head.” Kaito laughed as Kokichi let him go after the waltz. “Hey. You look good as King, you know. I don’t mind following a brat like you.”

“Awww Momota-chan I’m touched! Go and dance with the assassin chick. She looks like she’s about to murder me.” Kokichi shoved him away and watched as Kaito went back to the girl dressed in red. Their arms linked together, and Maki tossed a look behind her shoulder that could bring a cold shiver down his spine. He honestly doubted that they would be friends in any type of way.

X

_ Her blade pressed up against his neck, and her knee was right underneath his ribcage, affectively cutting off his air. He could hear his friends screaming at Maki to let him go, but no one dared to interfere. No one knew what kind of fight this was. Kokichi poked and prodded and finally outed her in front of God and everyone as to what she was. No nursery nun brought knives tucked underneath skirts. No big sister looking for her missing sibling had bottles of poison stashed in her sack. _

_ “Was it Enoshima?” Kokichi gasped out, and everyone fell silent as he spoke the word. Enoshima Junko and Mukuro were effectively ruling the Empire right now. The sisters that had more bloodsoaked history than anyone wanted to admit wars were breaking out in many different countries because of them, no one knew who was to blame. The Oumas were dead and gone presumably. No one was going to save them from the hell that the sisters were creating. _

_ It wouldn’t surprise Kokichi, though, if the word was getting out of a group of travelers were traversing the countries, making allies along the way. It wouldn’t surprise him at all of Enoshima thought to get rid of the competition hard and fast, rather than drawn out because she didn’t know who or where she was sending her knife to. _

_ If the assassin girl went back to her mistresses with a tale of a lost Prince come back to life, how quickly would the assassin die? Kokichi swallowed, and he could feel the knife barely gaze across his neck. His position is all too similar to the time back in the castle—red eyes. _

_ He had wondered why they looked familiar to him before. “Oh.” He said sweetly. “So it was her after all.” _

_ “Shut. Up.” _

_ “I thought she was smarter than to tell her assassin to finish the job that she failed to do, to begin with.” Kokichi continued, tone snide and sarcastic. She pinned him, so there was no way to move his legs. She had him in a lock, and even if he tried to shove her, the knife could easily slit his throat.  _

_ “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Maki replied cruelly. _

_ “Oh? Don’t I? Wasn’t it you who stormed the castle along with your Cult?” Kokich didn’t forget. He never forgot. “My brother begged you for mercy, you know.” He watched the emotions in Maki’s eyes and found none. Not a hint of remorse. Not an indication of guilt. How could anyone in his group think that she was going to be helpful in their cause?! Tying her up and leaving her for her Cult to find was the only way this could go down. “Yo-” _

_ The knife pressed deeper, and Kokichi hissed as he felt it slice his skin. Any more and he would be dead. _

_ “Let him go, MakiRoll.” _

_ “Don’t call me that! You don’t know who he is!” _

_ “I don’t know who you are either.” Now that got a reaction from her. Maki’s hand faltered on her grip. “But I’m willing to learn. We’re all willing to learn. You don’t get to go back there. We can keep you safe here. Tell them-” _

_ “You’re our hostage if you don’t kill me.” Kokichi finally spoke up. He wasn’t about to ally himself with a fucking assassin. Still, everyone in his group was too soft-hearted to even think, also to reconsider that this was a bad idea. Leaders listened to the group and made their judgment calls. If he was indeed going to save his Nation, he needed to prove that he was better than Enoshima. In every way that he could, from the smallest little thing to the biggest. Any similarities would tear the Empire apart, and the Nation would go in a different direction. “When the Empire falls, then we’ll talk about what to do with you.” _

_ “....” Maki already knew what he meant by that. Everyone else just made a soft hum of agreement, as though they were going to have any say when they defeated the woman. _

_ “Fine.” Maki let him go, and Kokichi scrambled himself to Rantaro. Sometimes he felt like the traveler was his only friend during these times. Everyone else was too worried about Maki to give much of a care about him. _

_ Rantaro, on the other hand, was already pulling out his first aid kit from his knapsack and forced Kokichi to sit before him, looking at the cut with curious eyes. Kokichi sat still as a statue while his mind mulled over on one thought: make sure the assassin girl regrets killing his siblings. _

_ He’d make sure of it. _

X

Funny how times and experiences change minds. Kokichi leaned back against the wall watching the dancers in amusement. Sometimes pushing himself off when he was bored enough to cut through dance with a random partner, not taking any mind or clue as to who it was that he was grabbing on to. He wasn’t one to sit by and watch forever. Even if there was going to come a day where he was going to have to, these people who were underneath Enoshima’s torture and law needed to have a Leader that was willing to dance with them, as well as to watch them.

Speaking of watching over them, Kokichi’s eyes darted over towards where the bards gathered. He saw to his utter annoyance that Shuichi was awkwardly sitting by the area, head tilted as he listened to Kaede play the lute. Shuichi was dressed in dark blacks as though going through a funeral. The clothes were pressed and fitted to his form, unlike the typical trench coat and loose fabric he wore when they were adventuring. Kaede kept to the pinks and the style of her people. The sheer fabric draped over her in a way that signified water, showing more skin than Miu.

They must’ve been sitting there for quite some time, and he knew the bards were going to need a break soon. An idea popping into his mind, he quickly let his partner go, shoving them into another person to dance with. He glided his way through the dance floor towards the two helpless romantics. 

He clapped his hands when the song was done, and of course, the people around him applauded too. “Go ahead and take five,” Kokichi told the performers. “I can cover you for a few minutes.”

“Eh?!” Kaede stuttered as the rest of the bards seemed to be thrown. “Ko I mean Ou-”

“You’re my friend Kayaday.” Kokichi’s eyes welled up with tears, and a spark of amusement slid down his chest when he saw Shuichi’s and Kaede’s eyes widen in horror when they realized what he was about to do. “Are you saying that you’re not my friends anymore?!” His voice raised a little.

“No, that’s wrong!” Shuichi shouted, his cheeks flamed. God, a long time ago, Shuichi would be a stuttering mess trying to bend over backward to make sure he didn’t cry. Kokichi was grateful for the backbone, but he could still see the shyness peeking through the cracks of his facade. “Of course we’re your friends, Ouma-kun. We just...it’s just…”

“Because I have a crown, I’m suddenly different from you.” Kokichi deadpanned, hitting it right on the mark from the way that they looked. Both of them were too open for their good. Terrible, no good liars. He looked at his nails disinterestedly. “I suppose there’s a difference in status now.” No denying that. “But we already knew that, didn’t we? Or am I lying?”

“Ouma-kun…”

“It’s whatever. I thought of one thing. I was wrong. Still, you two should take a break. Saihara-chan’s been dying for a dance; you know Kayaday.” There was no need for them to know how much that little rejection hurt.

“O...oh.” Kaede’s cheeks reddened, and Shuichi tugged on his bangs, not at all used to not having his customary hat on his head. “Shuichi-kun, why didn’t you tell me?!”

“I didn’t want-”

“Oh my god, just get off the stage and go eat or something!” Kokichi shoved Kaede towards Shuichi, and he picked up the lute. The crowd stared, open-mouthed. 

Thank God for impromptu music lessons.

X

_ “Eh?! Do you want to learn how to play? I mean, I’ll be glad to teach you, but why?” Kaede asked one night as they were sitting around the fireplace. Most everyone was asleep in their bedrolls, and Kokichi was still up. Kaede didn’t seem to be done playing with her lute, and so she kept to softer tunes to keep the lull of sleep on them. As talented as a bard that she was, Kokichi couldn’t find it in himself to close his eyes and rest. Insomnia was a bitch, and nightmares were hell. _

_ Kokichi was mindful as well to keep his voice down. The last thing he wanted to be was for people to wake up and hear that he was going to attempt the humiliating. “No reason. Do I need to have one? Is there a special rule you musicians follow about your musical instruments?” _

_ “I mean...it’s usually considered sacred for us to let another play one of our instruments.” Oh. Kokichi didn’t have a clue what he was asking for then. Before he could bite a retort and take everything back, she continued. “But there’s a different between “letting them play” and “teaching them how to.” _

_ He wondered if Kaede saw right through him, or if she was trying to assure him to explore. She always urged everyone to be true to themselves. Even though Kokichi was lying with every breath he took to keep this group together; he did allow his mask to fall sometimes. Sometimes.  _

_ “So then you’re gonna teach?” Kokichi asked, carefully approaching as though she had a spell prepared to knock him backward a good few feet. He saw her attack those who got a bit handsy. She wasn’t afraid to put people back in their place if she thought they needed it. Maybe that’s why Shuichi liked her so much her confidence that was more true than his. “You sure?” _

_ “Why not? Come here.” She patted a space next to her and gently passed her lute to him. The weight was unfamiliar on his lap, and suddenly he felt as though facing Enoshima would be painless than to understand this contraption. “Let’s go over the basics.” _

X

He didn’t mind the attention when it focused on him. Granted, he only knew how to play three songs on the lute, but they were the three best songs. He casually looked up from where he was performing and saw Kaede dancing with Shuichi. His smile was bright, and his eyes were shining. A long time ago, Kokichi was definitely in love with Shuichi Saihara. The boy was too kind, too meek. He was like water, adapting to every situation and person that asked for him. 

Angie tried to mold him into a husband. That had been funny.

X

_ “So, it has been decided!” The eccentric priestess proclaimed, her hands above her head with her eyes sparkling in delight. The yellow dress swished around her ankles with the movement. Kokichi never could stand the color yellow. It was too bright, and always hard on the eyes. Angie made herself look good, but God, she could pick a different obnoxious color. _

_ Shuichi stammered a few times before tugging his head down over one of his eyes. He looked small with the baggy trenchcoat hiding his form. There were tears and stains all over the fabric. Sometimes Kokichi wondered if that thing ever got washed; it was so bad. “Wh-what do you mean, Yonaga-san?” _

_ “I mean, Kami-sama has accepted and has determined that you shall be my husband.” _

_ Kokichi could only blink. _

_ Everyone could only blink. _

_ “Isn’t that a bit too much too soon?” Shuichi shook his head. “I don’t even know you, Angie. That’s a big decision to make.” _

_ “If Kamisama wills it, then it’s not that hard of a decision. Hmm? Are you saying that you deny Kami-sama’s wish? You do know that those who deny him go to hell, right?” _

_ “And that’s exactly why I’m saying no! I don’t want to be forced into a relationship, Yonaga-san. I want to be able to nurture one.” _

_ Kokichi’s heart flipped in his chest. He waited on bated breath to see what the priestess was going to do. The rumor of the town was quite simple. She wasn’t to be denied anything. She even said that she followed her Kami-sama, whoever the fuck it was, and would die if the God so willed it. For her to declare Shuichi her husband in this land, well, that was her right. _

_ Shuichi had some audacity to deny her; he’d give him that. _

_ The silence was thick. No one would be surprised if Shuichi’s words would get them kicked off of the island. They were so close to getting to Jabberwock too. They just needed her assistance.  _

_ “If Kami-sama wills it,” Angie repeated, as though Shuichi couldn’t understand. “Then, he is to be obeyed.” She suddenly smiled brightly, as though the sun were coming out of grey skies. “It’s no matter. You will listen to Kami-sama one day. Today is simply not that day. You will make for a good husband, Shuichi.” _

_ Shuichi could only stammer again as she brought her paintbrush to her mouth. The tip was lightly caressing the bottom of the lip. “You said that you need a boat, yes? Do you even know how to sail?” _

_ “I do,” Rantaro spoke up. For a fearful moment, Kokichi wondered if they were going to be bringing the priestess along with them.  _

_ “How divine! So do I! So it’s settled. We have a crew.” Angie grinned. “It appears Kami-sama is urging me to join you on your quest. Whatever happens at the end must be dealt with. Perhaps I am to prove myself to you, Shuichi!” _

_ “I don’t-” _

_ “I will find us a boat that will fit all of us comfortably. Don’t you fret now! Bye-anora!” _

_ “Wait!” Shuichi called out to her, but the woman wasn’t listening. _

_ Kaede couldn’t hold in her laughter anymore and cracked up, “I’m sorry, Saihara-kun! I’m sorry! I just…” _

_ “No, it’s fine…” Shuichi sighed, defeated. “I should be used to this by now.” _

_ Kokichi wondered if he was thinking of how Kokichi told him that he stole his heart. _

_ Ick he never thought he’d be compared to a priestess. _

X

Angie was dancing with some stranger in the dance room. The colors of yellows and golds complemented her skin tone, and her white hair knotted into tight braids and flowers. Kaede and Shuichi walked back towards the stage, along with the other bards that finished their break. Kokichi didn’t miss how their hands were linked, and fingers embraced between each other. If he were younger or lesser, he would be jealous. Now all he could do was smile. “Took you long enough.” He handed her the lute back. 

“Thank you, Kokichi,” Kaede said as she took her place. Shuichi once more hovering. The poor guy hated parties, and Kokichi had half of the mind to give him an out. “Kokichi about the conversation-”

“Hm? What conversation?” Kokichi asked, pressing his finger to his cheek. “I recall no such thing.” Kaede stared at him for a moment, and he gave her a gentle smile. “We knew we would say goodbye one day, Kayaday.” He gave her a bow, flourishing his cape behind him. “May your the winds be at your back, and the rains be at your front.”

“That is not how that goes!” Kaede protested, but Kokichi already was lost amid the crowd, grabbing a stranger to be pulled into another dance.

Again and again, until he wound up with-

“Oh god, it’s the degenerate male.”

The loyal swordmaster with the kindest heart, Kokichi, was impressed that he hadn’t been tossed through the window yet when he grabbed her hands by mistake. Unable to let go and just back away, he forced her into a dance that she conceded with. Hm, new tricks, old dogs, and such. “Chabashira-chan.” He echoed the sentiment back. “I’m surprised you’re not dancing with Himimiko-chan.”

“She’s...I don’t know where she’s at.” Kokichi had a feeling that he knew. He had plans to go up there when the party was at a lull. Right now, however, it was in full swing, and he couldn’t just leave when all eyes were still on him. Tenko didn’t hold anyone hostage. She wore her hair in the same spiral pigtails, but the bow was gone and lost. The armor that she adorned on was 

“You’re staying?” Kokichi felt salt and sand in his mouth. 

“People like you need to be watched for.” Tenko snapped, clearly displeased that she had to spell it out for him. “Of course I’m staying moron! Who else is going to keep an eye on you?”

That was fair. Everyone was splitting off after this to make ways of their future. Kokichi inadvertently tightened his grip on Tenko’s hand and was grateful that she didn’t try to slam him down onto the ground. No one in the kingdom would find it funny save for his group of friends.

X

_ “Degenerate males are all the same!” Tenko shouted, loudly and proudly as she had her knee on Kokcihi’s back. He was getting too acquainted with the female gender body-slamming him into hard surfaces and not in a way that would elicit sexual tensions either. He could feel his shoulder stretch uncomfortably as she threatened to dislocate it. “Honestly, how do you live with yourselves!” _

_ “Normally, we live by breathing, but I don’t think ogre-woman would understand that concept.” Kokichi wheezed. _

_ “Chabashira-san,” Rantaro, oh his savior in which and every way, stepped forward. His hands were outstretched, and he looked nervous, even though he was composed. “It was an accident that he brushed up against you.” _

_ “Nyeh. Just let him go, Tenko. You’re causing a scene.” Himiko added, gently tugging down her hat.  _

_ “Not only did he touch me, but he told Himiko that her magic wasn’t real.” _

_ “Duh, it’s not!” _

_ “It is too!” Himiko yelled, hands on her hips, and her stare defiant. “...You just never seen real magic before!” _

_ “How is that real magic, when all it is, is sleight-of-hand?” Kokichi shouted back. _

_ Unfortunately, his arguments were only making Tenko pull harder on him, and he whimpered as he let his head fall to the ground. Fucking brutes, all of them.  _

_ “Well, he can’t exactly apologize if he’s down in the ground, Chabashira-san.” Rantaro mused, ever the peacekeeper. Kokichi would run up and hug him if he thought he could do it without dislocating his shoulder. “So, how about I take him back, and keep a leash on him?” _

_ “AAAHHH!” Kokichi screamed, causing everyone to stare. It was enough for Tenko to drop his arm in shock. Using the surprise to his advantage, he got out from underneath her and ran to Rantaro’s side. “They’re being mean to me!” _

_ “Oh my god, you’re annoying too!” _

_ “Nyeh, what a pain.” _

X

“I don’t know what’s making you stay,” Kokichi said as he let her go from the dance. “But I’m glad to see you all the same.”

“Ugh, thank Himiko-chan for even thinking about you and your feelings.” Tenko flipped her hair over her shoulder, and before Kokichi could retort, she made her way through the field of people like she was walking through a meadow of flowers. 

He was going to have to thank Himiko for staying around. He danced as much as he could, Kokichi was confident now that everyone would assume that he would still be there and enjoy themselves. He slipped away from the ballroom with the same stealth that saved his neck and walked along the corridors.

The castle was going to have to get upgraded. Down with the portraits of the family members that would cast eyes and shame on him. Down with the colors of gold and red because all he could see was blood and shame. He could paint the walls, remodel the corridors so that they’d lead different places because the ghosts of his mind followed him too close for comfort.

He could hear his siblings laugh as they chased each other down the stairs. He could see them in the kitchens, stealing food. He could see his mother, coddling over one of the newer members of the household. He could see his father, trying to be serious on the throne but having to soften when his children wanted his attention if only for a moment. 

They were good memories, but the nightmares were louder. Kokichi found the missing group hanging outside in the courtyard. Gonta, the gentle giant, had a firefly on the tip of his large finger. He was too big for the clothes needed for a formal event, and he didn’t like discomfort. He preferred to stay outside, not wishing to scare people away.

X

_ “You don’t have to give him a piggyback ride, Gonta. He has feet. He can use his legs.” Rantaro told Gonta patently as they walked up a steep hill. Most of his group were falling behind and sweating from the heat exposure. The humidity of the forest stuck to their skin like a sticky fly trap. He could feel bugs crawling all over his skin, and he hated it. _

_ “Gonta would,” Gonta told Rantaro apologetically. “But Gonta feels Kokichi is better on his back.” _

_ “I mean, the degenerate can’t cause us a problem if Gonta has him,” Tenko added. _

_ “I hate to agree, but Tenko isn’t wrong.” Maki also chimed in. _

_ “Rude! Both of you are so rude! Even when we graciously allowed you into our group and everything!” Kokichi turned his attention to the girls. “Honestly, what did I do to you to deserve that?” _

_ “Annoying.”  _

_ “Hey! Gonta!” Kaito spoke up from the back. “You sure that we are heading the right way?” _

_ “Gonta is positive! Gonta lives in these forests. Gonta knows this route well. Gonta does not go into cities. The people are terrified of Gonta. So Gonta is more than happy to stay behind.” _

_ “Are you, though?” Kokichi questioned, ignoring the groans and complaints from behind him. “See, I think differently. Gonta, how about you learn what it’s like to travel with us.” _

_ “People get scared of Gonta.” Gonta frowned. “Gonta makes not for good company.” _

_ “So? That’s their problem. You can’t cater to everyone who has a problem. See? As they said, I’m annoying. I’m a brat. I’m not going to change for anyone.” _

_ “Oh god, I feel bad for whatever princess marries him.” Someone jabbed in the background. Kokichi politely shoved that comment down as far it could go. That was a worry for when he had the Empire back. Right now, there was no need for facades and charades.  _

_ “So...Kokichi is saying Gonta should be himself?”  _

_ “Yep. I mean, the townsfolk are going to think you’re an idiot, which you are.” Kokichi replied airly, once more ignoring outcries of disbelief and rapid-fire assurances. “But I like you dumb.” _

_ “Kokichi likes Gonta?” _

_ “As a friend, sorry to burst that bubble.”  _

_ A moment of silence. “Gonta never had friends before.” _

_ “Then it’s settled,” Kaede spoke up before anyone could. Of course, she would. Friendship was magic, and she was going to speak up about it if she thought she could get away with it. “Gonta! Welcome to the party!” _

X

“Kokichi!” Gonta greeted as the rest of the group picked their heads up. Korekiyo had a long scroll draped along with his lap, and Himiko was resting against his shoulder. Ryota was sitting on Gonta’s shoulder, a pipe dangling from his mouth. “Gonta is glad to see you.”

“You look dashing, kid.” Ryota took the pipe out of his mouth to blow a few smoke rings. “Or should I call you king?”

“That’s right! Bow down to me!” Kokichi boasted immediately. “I told you I was the Ultimate Supreme Leader of Evil! Now that I’m rightfully restored to my throne, I’m going to pick up where my family left off!”

“Good for you,” Ryota said effortlessly, water off the duck’s back calm. Kokichi never understood what made Ryota’s composure so thick. He jumped off of Gonta’s back and headed inside. “I’m going to go find Kirumi.”

Maybe that’s why.

X

_ Getting into the Enoshima Palace wasn’t going to be an easy feat. Kokichi stared at the blueprints of his castle with a scowl. His thumbnail bitten and chewed. He was grateful the Library still had this in their possession. Either Enoshima was dumb enough to think that no one was going to come looking, or she just didn’t care. _

_ “If we need a spy on the inside, I gladly will provide that service.” Kirumi suddenly spoke from her end of the table.  _

_ No one breathed an objection. Maki couldn’t do it because it would expose her instantaneously. Kokichi couldn’t permit it. “Are you saying that because you still think you’re a slave?” Ryota spoke from across the table, fiddling with his pipe. “Or do you think you can get in and out safely?” _

_ “My duty lies with my Master,” Kirumi spoke, and everyone’s expressions soured. Kokichi didn’t like slaves, but the mindset was too ingrained. All he could do was make sure that he offered her shelter and food, and to allow her freedoms. It was up to her to take the opportunities, and he hoped that in time she would. Right now, though, was not the time to experiment and to lose her as a resource. As much as Kokichi hated to admit it, they needed a slave. “I do what he asks.” _

_ “Shuichi-chan and Kirumi-chan will infiltrate the palace.” Kokichi finally decided. “Ryota is small enough to stay in air events alongside me.”  _

_ “What about the rest of us?”  _

_ “You wait until one of us comes back. Ryota, or I will let you know what’s going on. Chances are, we lose.” Kokichi shrugged. “But we need to know what we’re up against before we go into a war without a second thought.” _

_ “We will light the beacon the moment we get to it.” Ryota continued. “Once we do that, all countries should have their eyes on us.” _

_ “Jabberwock may get to us quicker than Hope’s Peak.” Kokichi agreed.  _

_ “I will fulfill your wish to the best of my ability.” Kirumi bowed her head, blonde locks falling and concealing her face. _

_ “Kami-sama says to bless you all with luck,” Angie said, uncharacteristically solemn. “So luck I shall give.” _

X

Gonta stood up, “Gonta knows when he is a bother.” He said suddenly before taking off.

Korekiyo slowly stood as well, his dress falling around his ankles and his mask hiding whatever expression he was showing. “I shall also take my leave. Farewell, Your Highness.” Kokichi wasn’t sure what it was about him, but he always made his skin crawl.

He waited for a long moment before realizing that they left him alone with Himiko. 

The mage wasn’t wearing her typical witch getup. The hat was long gone and destroyed in the battle. Tonight, she wore a green dress that matched the atmosphere of the courtyard, cut to her figure. She wore no ornaments or any type of jewelry, and she still looked beautiful.

Kokichi gently gestured towards the spot Korekiyo vacated, and she shrugged her answer. He sat down with a flourish, his cape gently swishing behind him as he sat down on it. He looked at her again and noted with some flip of the heart that she was beautiful in the moonlight’s glow. There was something about how the shadows cast around her that made her look less childish.

He wondered if these same shadows were doing anything for his looks. 

“Nyeh, being a royal’s going to be a pain, isn’t it?” Himiko asked after a moment.

“Best things in life are.” Kokichi shrugged. “If anything, the pain was getting me to the throne. Not being on it.” 

“Nuh-uh, that’s not true at all.” Himiko gave him a lazy smile that just barely reached her eyes. “I liked being with our friends. We had some good times together. I’m sad to see everyone go. I thought that….”

“You don’t have to stay behind, you know.” Kokichi decided to make her drop the act. “Take Tenko with you. Drag Kirumi out the door. The three of you should do something. You don’t have to be here. Being here is…”

Boring.

Himiko hummed softly. “I’m too lazy.” She finally admitted, letting the words wash over Kokichi like a soothing balm. When had he been scared that she was going to leave? “I don’t feel like adventuring anymore, and you told me that we could stay here if we wanted, so long as we’re still your friends.”

Shuichi never made him feel like this. Nervous, with hands becoming sweating, and he was leaning in attaching himself to every word that she was saying. “I don’t want to be friends.” He blurted, and he couldn’t take that back. Lying it worked when the Enoshima Empire stood. The situation was too important to lie about. “Stay with me...because you want to, Himiko.”

“Eh? EH?!” Himiko’s cheeks flushed a bright red. 

X

_ “Magic isn’t real.” Kokichi scoffed. Most everyone was a magic-user of some type, so he wasn’t too surprised when everyone shot him looks of disbelief. Shuichi opened his mouth, probably to refute his claim, but Himiko was much faster. _

_ The redheaded mage was an active magic-user, someone that went out of her way to perform magic for every little thing. She was reliant on it, to the point where it was practically a drug. “Yes, it is! Magic is real! I could turn you into a frog if I wanted to, Kokichi.” _

_ That was the thing she really could. Kokichi, however, didn’t have a sense of when to stop. He liked to push people’s buttons and see how far he could get with them. Maki already proved that she wouldn’t hesitate to try to choke him. “Really? But then how am I still talking to you now?” _

_ “Ugh!” Tenko cried out, “Degenerate male! See Himiko? That’s why we don’t talk to men! They always make it seem like the girl is the crazy one when, in reality, it’s them! I bet he never knew anyone in his group could do magic.” _

_ “There’s a difference between magic and the magic she’s talking about,” Kokichi replied airly. “I want to see the magic she’s talking about.” _

_ “It’ the same kind of magic!” Tenko argued. _

_ “Nuh-huh.” _

_ “Yes! Yes, it is!” _

_ “Nyeeeehhh! Will you two stop?!” Himiko shouted suddenly. “You’re a pain, both of you.” Her shoulders slumped, and her voice went down a few octaves. Her expression exhausted, as though that took up all of her energy. “...Hey Kokichi. I’ll show you one trick.” _

_ “Really?!” Kokichi’s eyes sparkled, and he could hear the rest of the group groan. _

_ “You don’t have to cater to him, Himiko.” Kaito frowned, “He’s just a busy-body.” _

_ “Don’t push yourself…” Tenko worriedly added. _

_ “Nyeh, he said he wanted to see a magic trick. He won’t stop bothering me till he does. So….I’ll perform the best trick I know.” _

_ “Do it!” Kokichi dared “Do-” _

_ “Silence.” Himiko waved her hand across his face, and Kokichi gave her a deadpanned look. Was that supposed to work? There was no way that was a spell. Spells were supposed to feel. Magic was supposed to feel like glitter or...or...like something! Kokichi never had a spell cast on him before, so he hadn’t expected anything. _

_ He also didn’t expect to open his mouth to laugh at her and find that he couldn’t.  _

_ “Can you do that forever?” Kaito asked. _

_ “Nyeh, it takes too much mana, and he’d get bored.” Himiko sighed. “He’s probably upset too.”  _

_ “Who cares? He was bugging you, Himiko!”  _

_ Kokichi tried to break free from the spell but found that he couldn’t. No words, no nothing. Not even a noise. He watched as his friends in his group chatted over him, getting used to the idea that they had an actual witch in the group. _

  
  


X

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Kokichi continued. “I know this feels like-”

“You like me?” Himiko stared at him. “You like...me? What did I do to get your favor?”

X

_ They had split off the group to get provisions and to see if there were any rumors around. Kokichi grabbed Himiko, mostly to anger and annoy Tenko, and dragged her away from the group without preamble. Now, they were being shuffled around to and fro by the crowd, and Kokichi was having to stop and wait as Himiko slowly made her way towards him. “Well, now we did it. Hey, hey, you’re a mage. You should magic us out of here.” _

_ “I don’t have much mana.” Himiko sighed. “A lot of things are a lot of work for me.” _

_ Kokichi groaned. It had been worth a shot. She didn’t look as though she could hold herself up for long. She was exhausted, more than he was, and he felt selfish for asking her to expend energy she didn’t have. “Come on, and I’ll give you a piggyback ride. Just. This. Once. Supreme Leaders don’t often do this for their subordinates, you know.” _

_ “Nyeh, you wouldn’t be able to carry me.” Himiko grumped, but she decided to see if he could make her eat her own words. She jumped onto his back, and she watched as he stumbled forward. “See? You can’t carry me. Put me down; we’ll just-” _

_ Kokichi gritted his teeth and stood up before he started walking. “You’re light.” He told her. _

_ “You’re lying.” _

_ “Nishishishi, you’re right! You’re heavy, and my arms are going to fall off and-Stop squirming, or you’re going to make me fall!” Kokichi had to tighten his grip on her as she tried to get down from her perch. _

_ “Nyeh you don’t have to force yourself too-” _

_ “Who said anything about forcing myself? Can’t I make my own decisions? Or is that too hard of a concept for people to understand.” Kokichi griped. _

_ Himiko could only sigh before she relaxed against his hold. He breathed slowly, grateful that he didn’t have to wrangle her into submission. They walked through the crowd, Kokichi keeping a steady grip and keeping an eye out for people that’d run into them. “You smell nice.” _

_ She couldn’t see how bright his cheeks were, or how he pursed his lips to look at the ground for a moment. Himiko only knew that Kokichi was going to hang that over her head for days.  _

_ “Now, can you do the navigational spell?” He was learning little by little that magic wasn’t a blessing most thought of, but a curse for what it was. Parasitic. They may not get through the city unless Kokichi sucked it up and asked people for directions.  _

_ “Nyeeeehhh. I’ll try...” _

X

“You.” Kokichi wasn’t sure how to respond. Shuichi loved Kaede like the moon loved the sun. Kokichi falling in love with Himiko was like a moth to the flame. He was going to be burned by her rejection, and that was that. “You made me smile. That’s more than enough. Why are you staying, Himiko?”

Himiko looked away and down on her lap. “Because I like you, and I worry about you. You tend to push people away when they’re trying to help you.” She took a deep breath, and she leaned against his shoulder. He could smell strawberries and sunflowers on the air. The calming scent of happiness. “I don’t know how people are going to take you dating a mage, you know.”

“Who cares? You’ll be my wife in no time, Himimiko.” Kokichi was brave enough to kiss her hair, and she lifted her head and forced him to taste her lips as well. He blinked at her boldness, but he melted into the kiss anyway.

He could rebuild this Empire. Enoshima’s scars would fade with time, and the Ouma Empire will be left to history. This Empire, on the other hand, needed a new name. A new era to walk into. Well, he could figure all that out later. 

  
  


For now, he was going to bask in this moment of being with the people he cherished most. 

  
  
  
  



	12. Confrontation (Ouma & Kiibo)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 12: Guilt/Loss
> 
> Kiibo stood in front of Miu's lab, trying to figure out if he should go in or not. Kokichi sees the internal debate and has a few things to comment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to Ouma Month for hosting this event. Thank you to those who left me kudos, comments, subscriptions, bookmarks, and hits. You are fantastic and I'm appreciative for the support.

Kiibo stood in front of Miu’s lab, with slumped shoulders and a hardened expression on his face. Kokichi had meant to take a stroll around the courtyard, to get some fresh air when he saw the robot standing there. He had half of the mind to go up to Kiibo and pester him like he usually did, but he doubted he could keep the mask on for long. They both knew why he was standing in front of the lab. Momotaro stood next to Kiibo, the red and white bear holding onto Kiibo’s leg.

Sometimes Kokichi hated himself for letting Kiibo get attached to the creature. There was nothing good in trying to be friends with Momokuma’s cubs. They were nothing but distractions. This was a killing game, and Miu thought she could play to win. It was all there was, but Kokichi tightened his hands into fists as he gnawed on his lip. He had to use the only friend he had in the game to do so. 

He was a Leader. Leaders knew how to use people to be sacrifices and pawns. He looked over at Kiibo. He had thought that if they made friends with the cubs, they had some sort of protection. That was back before he was naive. Back before, when he thought that no one was dumb enough to start the killing game and all of its glory. There was nothing he could say to Kiibo about this. He couldn’t apologize because there was nothing to be sorry for. 

God, he couldn’t even apologize to Gonta. They both knew that it was bound to happen. Kokichi told him, warned him that there was going to come a time where they were going to have to make a sacrifice. Gonta wouldn’t be able to carry everyone to the end. He knew that. 

“Daddy…” Momotaro spoke up, the robot squeezing close to Kiibo’s leg. “Aren’t you going in?”

“It’s Miu’s lab,” Kiibo said after a moment. “...I can move on my own, and I know that I can open the door. I know that what I’m going to see is how she left everything. I know in my memory banks that she’s gone and that she’s not here. Yet…” he placed a hand on his chest, where a heart would be if he were human. “I find myself unable to open the door.”

“We humans call that grieving.” Kokichi couldn’t believe that he was actively doing this. Momotaro and Kiibo looked over at him. He decided to plaster on a carefree smile and folded his arms above his head as he walked towards them. “You know. Sadness. _Despair._ That’s why your stupid robot body won’t move towards the door. You think deep down that she needs to permit you to enter her lab.” Before Kiibo could stop him, Kokichi reached over and yanked it open.

The dark abyss was what greeted them; the lights were off. There was nothing for them to look for. Neither of them knew how to use the lab to its full advantage, unlike Kirumi’s, which was practically its suit. “Not that robot needs closure or anything.”

“That’s just robophobic. I’d cry if I could.” Kiibo snapped at him. “Don’t you have anything better to do, Kokichi?”

Did he? Kokichi could work on refining that plan more, going at it with a vengeance. He could try to escalate the situation into something direr. He could be wrapping this game up with so much chaos, the audience at home, and the players of the game wouldn’t have a look which way to look next. 

“Maybe I just wanted a break from my evil wrongdoing. Ever thought of that?” 

“You’d think after losing two of our friends; you’d be more sympathetic.” Kiibo frowned. “Saihara was right about you.”

_You’re alone._

Kokichi gritted his teeth as he watched Kiibo. Keep the smile on, don’t get let it falter. The minute it starts to crack was when everything was over. “It’s like I said Kiiboy. I like this game. The more you suffer, the more I enjoy it. So go on! Suffer some more! Go in her lab, pick up her things, go through your memory banks, and pretend you know what grief is.” Kokichi’s voice was rising louder and louder. “It’s not like robots can feel! Look at what Momokuma does to his kids.”

Momotaro pressed tighter against Kiibo, and Kiibo’s expression hardened. “I won’t let that happen to Momotaro.” He said calmly. “And I won’t let anyone die from this killing game. Your days are numbered, Kokichi. I suggest you just stop while you’re ahead, and give up. You already outed yourself as the Mastermind. There’s no reason for us to continue to play the game.”

“Isn’t there, though?” Kokichi pressed his finger against his cheek, tilting his head curiously. “You think that me, being the Mastermind, would be enough to end the game? Did you forget how this game works? Kiiboy I’m disappointed! The game doesn’t stop until there are two players left, you know. If that means I have to make things more interesting for myself, then well, that’s what I’ll do.”

“Why are you here.” Kiibo sighed after a moment. “Kokichi, what could you possibly be here for?”

“Absolutely nothing.” Kokichi lied through his teeth, “just wanted to see how you were holding up. It’d be a shame if a robot stopped working because the inventor decided to bite the dust. I’m bored now. You’re not as fun as I thought you would be. Laters.”

“There’s no point to this, Kokichi!” Kiibo yelled after him, but Kokichi kept walking away.

There was a point. Kokichi already wrote all of them off as people that could die. Kokichi knew that the number of survivors was going to be less than what he wanted to begin with. He knew that he wasn’t going to make it out of here; he was too villainous to keep around. 

_You’re alone._

That was precisely the reason why he was going to get this killing game to stop. Having nothing to live for, Kokichi looked behind him over where Kibo still stood at the Miu’s lab, meant he had nothing restraining him.

It was about time for the next act. 


	13. Compromise (Oumamade)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 13: Soulmate AU/Comfort/Trust
> 
> Kokichi hears a piano playing in the hospital's music room and decides to see who it is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for Ouma Month for hosting this event. Thank you for those who left me kudos, subscriptions, comments, hits, and bookmarks. I appreciate you all taking the time to read this.

Kokichi could hear the soft notes of the piano play throughout the hospital. He stopped his wheelchair for a moment, tilting his head towards the song. The nurses were walking around, not at all anxious that someone was using the public piano. They encouraged creativity, so it was nice to see that they weren’t hypocritical when they allowed the music to go through. Kokichi already knew who was playing; he didn’t need to confirm. However, he found himself rolling his way down the aisles and towards the small music room that the hospital had.

Kaede sat poised at the bench, with the window curtains drawn and the sunlight beaming down on her face and body. The light caught the pink undertones of her skin and the golden sheen of her hair. If Kokichi had a metaphor, he’d called her angelic. Her fingers danced across the keyboard with a grace he couldn’t copy even if he knew how to. He wheeled himself further into the room, taking note that there was an artificial flower scent that lingered on the air. The air freshener was hidden in an outlet somewhere. Still, Kokichi didn’t have the mind to play hide and seek with an inanimate object.

Her playing slowed to a stop, and the silence echoed around them as a sudden wall had erected. Kaede’s lilac gaze bore down on him like judgment, and Kokichi felt his back stiffen in the wheelchair. He had been more aware than ever to know how weak he was. Anyone could shove him, tip him over, and he’d deserve it and get no sympathy. He saw the online articles and how people thought of his character.

The personality that he used to have was buried somewhere deep within Danganronpa’s script, and Kokichi wasn’t sure if he wanted to dig it out and bring it to the surface. Kaede tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and she sighed. The cold wall had cracked slightly. “... I’m sorry your plan failed,” Kaede said finally.

“Why are you, sorry? If anything, Kayaday, it went all according _to_ plan. Saihara-chan’s brain’s going to go a thousand miles a minute trying to solve the very last piece of the puzzle.” Kokichi said simply. “It’s just a shame I’m not there to see it. Oh well, probably for the best.” He looked at his nails. “I’d only get blamed for using another person after all.”

“That was cruel and unbelievable.” Kaede scoffed, and Kokichi merely raised an eyebrow at her. She pursed her lips together, “I know. I did the same to Saihara-kun.”

“You did. The boy mourned you, you know. Could’ve tricked me into thinking that you two were soulmates, the way he tagged your tail around.” Kokichi carefully spun his wheelchair to get closer to the piano. He saw that there wasn’t any sheet music to grace her sights, and he blinked slowly. “You played all of that from memory?”

“I am the Ultimate Pianist.” Kaede grinned, “there’s not a single piece of music I couldn’t memorize. Had I had all the time in the world in that game, I’m sure I would’ve figured out what you all would be music-wise.”

“You mean like how you found Saihara-chan the Clair De Lune song? Spare me. I’m not going to be easy to read in music notes.” Kokichi waved her off dismissively.

Kaede merely cracked her fingers, the sound echoing in Kokichi’s mind, and he felt a lump in his throat. He could hear Kaede’s neck snap. She rested her fingers on the keys. For one horrid moment, he thought he was going to listen to that damn execution song that Monokuma forced her to play before it all ended. Instantly, Kaede’s fingers played the notes as though she was trying to make someone scurry along the floor. He could picture someone racing against time, trying to figure out what they needed to do.

Her fingers danced across the notes until one hand continued to play the song at a fast and rapid tempo, and the other hand slowed. A lull in the moment, but not in thought. Before he had a chance to breathe, the song picked up again, back to the quick notes that barely lasted a second as she danced across the keyboard.

He felt like he was being pulled along, swept by the fast current, and unable to find purchase. It was a swift and painless song, but he felt his mind go blank with awe. By the time she let him breathe, it was the end, and the silence once more echoed back a chill. It was a little warmer though Kokichi wasn’t sure if it was from the beat of the music that made his heart race and his body temperature climb or the fact that he was sitting now in the sunlight. 

“Chopin Etude Op. 10 Number Four. Also known as Torrent.” Kaede spoke. “In my mind, it reminds me a lot of you. Always thinking, hurrying, trying to beat the game before it can beat you. You only allowed yourself moments to rest if you trusted someone. That someone being Saihara-kun.” He didn’t like being read. Not even outside of the game. “... There’s really no point in pretending we don’t know, Kokichi.”

There wasn’t. Kaede died, and Kokichi’s mark on his arm, a half of a sixteenth note, which could be read as an eighth note, had turned into a scar when his partner “died.” It was one of the few reasons why he decided to close himself off to the rest and to take a harder look at Saihara as a partner if he wanted to end the game, especially since he was able to throw people under the bus without batting an eye until it was over. 

Neither of them knew what to say—meeting in the killing game destroyed any romance that could happen. Kokichi wasn’t afraid to admit that he had been harsh with her. Enough to make her cry and hide away in her room for a while. He tried to show her what a leader needed to be capable of. To bow when their team needed them to, to have a backbone when they needed to, encouragement where there was none. 

To play a villain when he knew that would end in his death. 

“They said you might not walk again.” Kaede finally broke the silence. 

“Well, better than not moving.” Kokichi shrugged. “Miracle really that I’m able to get as far as I am now, Kayaday.” 

“I’m sorry.”

“Pity isn’t what I’m here for.” 

Kaede let out a deep breath, and she looked at him squarely. “Then, why are you here?”

Kokichi wondered how to word this. With the killing game under their belts, it was a hard road to recovery in many ways. Kaede’s throat will always suddenly stop working or crack in unexpected places. Kokichi’s brain couldn’t believe that his body was healthy after going through something as traumatic as he did. Without the scars to prove what they went through, Kokichi already knew that the world before them was going to think they were making it up, although most of the world saw their deaths.

Why was he here? He heard the piano and got curious. He spoke because he thought there was a conversation to be had. He looked at Kaede and knew that he fucked her over the first time. “When you took the leadership role, I should’ve done you a favor and stole it back from you.” 

Kaede blinked in surprise.

“Leaders die first,” Kokichi explained. “If you want to weaken anyone’s resolve or morals, you hit where they believe the most. When someone is leading the pack, that’s the first person you go after. Much like you go after the mastermind, the person that was doing that to all of us. Instead, I let you take the fall. You wanted the role, and I didn’t feel like it was my place to remind everyone what my talent was.”

“Then, you lead from the shadows.” Kaede pursed her lips together. “You forced everyone to hate because they needed a common enemy. The mastermind was just too strong of one, without being able to uncover who they were. Saihara-kun...you were using Saihara-kun too.”

“I was using all of you. I’m not going to apologize for that.” Kokichi shook his head, “That’s what leaders do. You use the people that care for you the most. If they’re truly loyal to you, they will die for you. That’s simple. It…” He let out a deep breath. “It wasn’t the type of leader I wanted to be. I’m a pacifist.”

“You didn’t act like one.”

“What’s wrong with having a bit of fun?! Kayaday, you wound me!” Kokichi cried dramatically, placing a hand over his heart. He couldn’t flourish himself around as he could. He doubted this body of his could ever produce tears ever again. Danganronpa took away so much from them and gave them empty shells to live in. Empty, restricted shells. By the time the game was over and done with, Kokichi didn’t doubt that they’d have their perfect chess pieces once again. “I honestly came here because I heard you play.”

“O-oh.” Kaede’s cheeks turned pink, and she looked back at the keyboard. “That’s right. I didn’t get a chance to play for any of you back in the game.”

“Nope! It was a shame too. I was looking forward to piano music when I gave my villainous monologue! I’m sure you would’ve come up with something.” Kokichi pressed a finger against his lips. “Or am I lying? Maybe I just wanted to hear you play so that I could tease you about it later.”

“Sinister piano music to a villain’s speech.” Kaede deadpanned. “Yeah, no. Not for you anyway.”

“Whaaa?! I’ve been nothing but nice to you too!” Kokichi cried out.

Kaede merely laughed, but she didn’t press her fingers to the keyboard. “It’s going to take you a bit of time for me to trust you again.”

“I think that goes for everyone and their mothers right now, but I’m not looking for trust. What I’m really looking for are new subordinates to fulfill my evil plan! Shame you didn’t fall for it, Kayayday. That’s just a lie. I know.” Kokichi’s smile slipped slightly. “You guys wouldn’t trust a liar like me.”

“I’d like to.” Kaede pressed a finger to the keyboard, and they listened to the note pierce the conversation like an alarm. “If you and I are really soulmates...and you were only acting like that in the game...then I’d like to know the real Kokichi Ouma.”

“You might not like what you see. Just like I might not like what you have to show me.” Kokichi pressed a finger to his cheek. “Are you sure about that, Kaede? There are no take-backsies. The minute you say yes, you’re officially one of D.I.C.E! You’ll have to cater to my every whim.”

“Is that the only price I have to pay? You’ll have to be willing to compromise with me, too, Kokichi.” Kaede shot back. “I’m not going to be your servant.”

“I never said servant, though if you wanted to play that route, I’m up for it,” Kokichi replied smoothly, watching her cheeks turn red from the implication. He leaned forward a little. “Compromising is what a leader does, Kayaday.”

“Then... we’ll see where this goes. I won’t hold back.” Kaede grinned. “If the soulmate tattoo turns out to be true, then awesome. If it turns out, we’re just friends, that’s good enough for me too. We’ll start slow.”

“Neat. Play me another song, then peasant.” Kokichi gestured to the piano, and Kaede shot him a look as he fluttered his eyes.

Three steps forward and five steps back, Kokichi watched her fingers dance across the board as he closed his eyes and let the music wash over him.

He hoped the rest of his classmates who were stuck in hell were doing okay. He hoped that they were winning.

  
  
  
  



	14. Change The World (Ouma-Centric/slight saiouma though can be read as platonic)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 14: Magical Boy/Transformation
> 
> Kokichi needed to get there and he needed to be fast. He thought by delaying his wish he would be stopping the inevitable. Instead, he made things worse, and it was all his fault.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much Ouma Month for hosting this event. Thank you to those who left me subscriptions, hits, kudos, bookmarks, and comments, I appreciate every one of them.

He had to get there on time. Kokichi rushed through the pouring rain, praying that he was going to get there on time. All of the other boys that he knew had fallen to a Despariling already. Back before they even agreed to this mess, Rantaro took them out on an adventure and tried to show them the power that was being a Magical Boy. He was killed right in front of them, too cocky for his own good. 

Gonta, who was gentle and bright, killed from being manipulated by a Despairling that tried to show that they were reformed. No matter how often Kokichi wished for time to rewind, he could never save the gentle giant or Rantaro. It was as if the future was fixated on them dying, and no timeline would allow otherwise.

Korekiyo, who studied the Despairling in hopes that he could save his sister, became one.

In this timeline, Kaito wasn’t a Magical Boy this time, but never did Kokichi wish as hard as he did that wasn’t the case. Anyone was better. Anyone would work. Kaito was stuck in the hospital on a timelimit, and Maki was with him currently, waiting for the end. 

This Despairling would be the end of the city if he didn’t get there in time. Everything he knew would be gone in an instant, fallen into the Despair that all of them had tried so hard to stop. He didn’t think he could even begin to call it a Despairling anymore. It became a Queen, and they could create new Despairlings without having to go through too much trouble. 

He could feel Shuichi’s magic spark in the air, and he swallowed thickly. He was going to be too late. He wasn’t going to reach in time. He was going to see his beloved dead on the ground, and he wasn’t sure he could keep going back in time, trying to stop the inevitable. Kokichi still had yet to make his wish in this timeline. He knew that to save Shuichi, he had to let the boy decide his path first after forever of trying to stop him in his tracks. 

His wish had to be saved and saved and saved until it couldn’t be saved anymore. His clothes were drenched, and he saw Monokuma appear, running beside him. “What’s the big hurry?” The bear teased. “Think you can reach him in time? Pupupupu, it’ll truly be a sad thing if you couldn’t make it. You wouldn’t be able to bear with the pain! Hahahaha!”

Kokichi wanted to kick the bear across the city, to never see the blasted thing again. However, he needed to play nice. This was going to be Kokchi’s only chance to make things right. Without saying a word, he finally reached the riverbank where the battle was being held. 

Shuichi’s costume was pure blue, with a tail-coat cape. His sword dancing across the battlefield as he tried to stall the Queen from approaching further. He watched in horror as the Queen opened its mechanical jaw and had a ball of light shoot out of its maw. Shuichi was hit and flew across, skidding to a halt at a tree just on the river bank. The rain-drenched his skin, and the river didn’t help matters.

“Shuichi!” Kokichi cried out, running towards his friend. He didn’t care about the mud getting on his clothes. The bright neons that he usually wore weren’t as vibrant when they were wet anyway. He quickly got to his knees when he reached Shuichi, hitting the ground hard enough to bruise. He looked at the Queen and felt his heart sink.

The Queen was larger than any Despairling he ever came to see. They were mechanical looking with a weird clownlike face, much like what his friends in D.I.C.E. wore back when they were nothing but pranksters. In this timeline, Kokichi disbanded the group, praying that it would buy time. Praying that his friends wouldn’t come across Despair.

The Magical boys lost to the battle weren’t the only ones dead. D.I.C.E. also would fall to Despair. All of them, trying to hide secrets, trying to fight through smiles and laughter. Trying to make their way in a world that no one wanted them in. Every single one of them abandoned, and Kokichi knew…

Kokichi knew that he may be fighting a Queen that was once one of his. Shuichi struggled to sit up, the stone that was resting in against his chest was turning black. Kokichi felt his heart stop. Soon, Shuichi would succumb to Despair. The Hope that he had was dwindling the longer he tried to fight the Queen.

“You need to leave.” Shuichi gasped as he got back up on shaky feet. “You can’t be here, Ouma-kun.”

“The hell I’ll leave,” Kokichi shouted. “What about you?!”

“This is my fight. I can’t have you in the middle of this. Please, Ouma-kun, run. Go back to your family. Find shelter. It’ll be okay-”

“IT’S NEVER GOING TO BE okay!” Kokichi shrieked, and the Queen opened it’s maw again. Without thinking, Kokichi shoved Shuichi into the river and took the blast for himself. Pain blossomed in his body, and he curled around the wound. He could hear someone screaming. He groaned when he lifted his hand from his injury.

His hand came back sticky and bloody. He could smell the copper mixing with the rainwater. “Ouma-kun…” Shuichi begged as he got to his friend, “Please…you have to leave. I can get you to safety-”

“Taking your eyes off that thing....” Kokichi gasped in pain, “...means everyone dies, Saihara-chan.”

Shuichi swallowed.

“Hey.” Kokichi murmured. “There’s no way you defeat that as you are.”

Shuichi looked at him, and Kokichi watched as the smallest bit of light disappeared from the stone. He only had a few more minutes before Shuichi would turn himself into a Despairling and be the first victim of the Queen. He looked at the object at hand, seeing it start to power up for another attack.

His decision had to be made quickly. “Hey! Stupid bear! I have a wish!”

“N-no! Kokichi!” Shuichi shouted, but Monokuma already appeared next to Kokichi curiously. 

“What’s this? What’s this? Someone’s going to make things exciting? A newbie is going to take on a Queen? What drama! What intrigue!” Monokuma’s expression didn’t change from anything but gleeful.

Kokichi took a shuddering breath. Shuichi scrambled, trying to cover Kokichi’s mouth. The boy immediately grabbed Shuichi’s wrists and stopped him from moving. His blood stained the sleeve of Shuichi’s costume, turning the white into the red.

“I have a wish.” He repeated. “So turn me into a Magical Boy.”

“Very well! Your wish shall be granted!” Monokuma cheered. “Just remember you work underneath me now, looser!” 

Shuichi gasped as Kokichi began to glow a bright yellow, and Shuichi scrambled to try to grab hold of him, tried to...do something. The magical power that was coming from Kokichi felt like it was massive. Something about it even made the Queen take a pause, as the world suddenly came to a halt.

“What is this?” Monokuma gasped. “Could be that after traveling through all those timelines, his wish could break dimensions?”

Kokichi hoped so, prayed so. There was never going to be an incident like this again. No magical boy was going to fall prey to Despair, and they weren’t going to be slaved to losing their Hope. He wasn’t going to allow anyone, _anyone,_ to be a victim in Monokuma’s game. He could give up his Hope and let other people use it instead. 

As long as Shuichi was still alive and fighting, there was no need for him to be around anymore. He could fix the broken world and the mistakes that he made. It was only fair. Kokichi had worked too long and hard, trying to find different outcomes and ways to make this end. His transformation took his colorful wardrobe and transformed it into a white tuxedo with a checkered hat and scarf. He raised his cane up above his head and used all of his Hope that he could use in one sitting. Both to grant his own wish and to make sure that this was the final time he ever had to do this. 

  
  


He rewound time, back before the Queen ever happened. He stood next to Rantaro as he fought the Despairling and won, using the arrogance for advantage rather than for his demise. He stood next to Gonta, figuring out now that his bright nature was the exact thing that needed to fight against a Despairling. He used that as his basis for the new power system that the world was going to make. Korekiyo couldn’t save his sister and did indeed fall, but Kokichi sat next to him as they watched someone else take the reigns. 

Too blind by the love of the false kind to see anything differently. 

Kaito and his sickness; Kokichi made sure it was known sooner, made sure that everyone knew about it. Outed him as fast as he possibly could without anyone knowing it was him. Saving him from a life of pain and solitude and keeping him from the front lines. Kiibo, who tried so hard to be a sidekick, could live in peace with his girlfriend.

He couldn’t save Ryoma either. The Despairing took too much from him to consider anything else. However, he could spare him the pain and suffering of becoming a Despairling himself. He’d never become a magical boy, and he’d never try to get vengeance. The death that he had decided on was practically a mercy, even if Kokichi disagreed with it.

Then to his only friend, his dearest friend….

Shuichi stood on the riverbank, where the battle took place. His sword glinted in the sunlight as he stared off into the distance. Nighttime would’ve been a lot better for him to come out, but it was clear what he was doing. 

No one in the world remembered Kokichi Ouma. The members of D.I.C.E. that stood by his side only had a vague sense that someone was missing from their fold, but couldn’t quite place who it was. None of the magical boys that Kokichi came across during his time as an average civilian remembered his name, or what he was about.

Shuichi, for whatever reason, seemed to have his memory. Usami stood beside him, looking nervous and upset. “You keep coming here,” Usami spoke. “It’s dangerous for you to be out in public like that! People are going to get the wrong idea.”

“Kokichi would.” 

“Who?” A question mark practically floated above her head. “Are you talking about the time-traveler? I still don’t believe that story. It feels so far fetched. No one can store up a powerful wish like that, and transform the universe.”

“Kaito always said, “make the impossible possible.” I think Kokichi was the embodiment of that even though the two didn’t know each other or hated each other.” Shuichi bowed his head, placed the sword back into its scabbard. “Despairlings used to be much more powerful than just creatures that latched on to people. A personification of depression rather than...actual terrors.”

Kokichi folded his arms behind his head as he listened to the conversation, looking up at the sky. He was no longer apart of the universe, no longer part of any of this. He noticed Shuichi was looking at him, and he merely smirked before walking off.

Shuichi only caught a glimpse of black and white checkers and purple hair. 

“Thank you, Ouma-kun,” Shuichi spoke softly. “I hope...I wish...you’re doing well.”

  
  
  
  



	15. Upstage (Ouma-Centric)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 15: Canon Divergence AU/Motives/Poison
> 
> Kokichi wasn't the only one that knew something was wrong with this game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to Ouma Month for hosting this event. Also thank you to those who left me subscriptions, kudos, bookmarks, hits, and comments. I appreciate you so much! I'm so grateful that you stuck by me. This marks the half-way point of the event! I hope you all are prepared for the rest of the month!

He was dead. Kokichi stared at the body that he found lying in Shuichi's Ultimate Lab. A bottle of poison had rolled across the floor, drenching the carpet with the last of its contents. Vomit and blood stained the vintage flooring where Shuichi's body laid, and a dribble of it still fell from the corner of his mouth. His eyes were blank. Shuichi's hands had reached for his throat, as though he had hoped that it would either soothe the burn to or try to expel more of it out. The stench made Kokichi's stomach twist violently. He could hear the soft _ding dong, dong ding_ , in the background—Monokuma's voice blended in with the haze of Kokichi's disbelief. 

Kokichi only broke into Shuichi's lab once, and it was the entire reason he wasn't sure what to think of the Detective. Everything in this room felt gimmicky, straight out of Sherlock Holme's novel of a cabinet full of poisons and other chemicals, a bookshelf filled with books, and the gaudy knickknacks to grace the table. It felt like mockery.

Maki was by Shuichi's side, looking him over and finding the bottle. She picked it up without a change of expression. "Has to be suicide." She muttered.

It made Kokichi's head spin. He knew that Shuichi had a history of depression. He spent three days locked away in his room when Kaede died. He spent hours trying to recover from seeing Kirumi's execution and Ryoma's eaten body. The nightmares that plagued everyone tortured Shuichi. Kokichi couldn't be the only one that noticed the dark circles under his eyes, pretended to be smeared eyeliner. He couldn't be the only one that saw Shuichi's hands shake and decreased appetite. 

He couldn't be the only one that knew that those training sessions Maki and Kaito had were nothing more than just distraction. If Korekiyo were alive, Kokichi would've placed all of his bets, all of his money onto him. If Angie were alive, who listened to her delusions more than she listened to her common sense, he would also have her in the top two suspect list. 

Shuichi committing suicide wasn't too far-fetched, but what possibly could've been the motive? Kokichi had one planted in the virtual world; he had an entire plan set up. Miu was going to kill him otherwise.

Kokichi's brain stopped. The world halted as everyone moved around the lab, trying to gather evidence. That was fine. Kokichi left, letting them do their thing. His instinct told him to go to the Ultimate's dorm room instead. Let them investigate a crime scene; that wasn't where the answer was going to be. He didn't remember crossing his way to the dorm. He didn't remember bending onto his knees, taking out his lockpicks. He didn't remember swinging the door open.

One moment he was in the lab.

Next, he could smell Shuichi's scent lingering in the bedroom. Just like the Ultimate's research lab, it was tidy. Clean to the point that no dust would grace the shelves. The bed was neatly made, with no wrinkles to show that he even slept. There were files, deftly stacked on the desk, but nothing more than that. Kokichi wondered if anyone thought that was weird. 

Everyone would try to make the rooms their home somehow. Even his Ultimate lab, which had nothing but tchotchkes, had more personality than...this. Even Shuichi's lab didn't have the same nature that Shuichi had. 

Something just didn't click with any of it. Shuichi was a terrible liar by default. Too honest and open for his own good. The files looked ignored, unopened, and untouched. Kokichi walked over towards the files and started to thumb through them. 

They were all victims. Murder victims to be precise, but not of the people that were in the game currently. These were people that Kokichi didn't know. Ultimate Violinist, Ultimate Chemist...not only that, but he was sure if he dug in deep, he would find the photos of the crime scene as well.

What was Danganronpa trying to tell their Ulitmate Detective with these files? Considering that he doubted Shuichi ever opened them, what made the Detective avoid the contents? Did he, by chance, have a feeling that these were things he didn't need to know? Or, did Shuichi already figure out that these were files of people who were long since dead? Players of a game that they were currently playing?

What could be the point in giving him Season 52's files? Kokichi already knew that Rantaro was a survivor of the previous season, which had been easy to discover, as well as how to break into Rantaro's lab. It was easy to run around when no one was looking. He set the files down, his finger curling around his chin—none of this made sense. If Shuichi committed suicide, there'd be a note somewhere, right? Getting an idea in his mind, Kokichi walked over towards Shuichi's bed and slipped his hand underneath the pillows.

His fingers felt paper, and he slowly dragged it out from it's hiding place. A note, but without anyone addressed. Had Shuichi not cared who found him? 

_I know what the plan is_. Shuichi's handwriting greeted him. No preamble. No greeting. No, "if found, please give to such and such person," just a simple sentence, Kokichi felt his heart shift and sink into his stomach. "...Was this your way of stalling Miu?" He asked as he set the note down.

A loud knock at the door made Kokichi jump out of his skin, but he schooled his features to hide that he had been startled and walked to the door. He yanked it open, "Oh! It's Miss Assassin! Sorry but Saihara-chan's currently dead right now, and he's-"

"We found this." Maki shoved something to his chest roughly, causing him to take a few steps back. "I don't get why he addressed it to you of all people, but there you go."

Kokichi's mask slipped into a neutral expression as he carefully peeled the envelope from his chest. His name was written as though he had been an afterthought. His mind spun as he looked over at the bed where the other note laid. 

Maki shoved him again, this time to get into the room. "I thought vampires needed a greeting or permission to walk into someone's territory." Kokichi mocked.

"Do you want to die?" Maki asked, turning her cold gaze towards him before she picked up the note. "What plan?"

"Who knows? I was going to ask you the same thing." Kokichi deflected. "It looks like Saihara-chan knew something and got himself killed for it."

"There's nothing to suggest that the crime scene was a murder," Maki stated as the paper crumpled in her grip. "Saihara killed himself. End of discussion."

"Is that so? Then don't let me bother you." Kokichi hummed. "You should get out though if you're so convinced. There's nothing here for us to investigate. I looked top and bottom and top again! I never thought Saihara-chan was a clean freak like Tojou-chan."

Maki didn't grace him with an answer, ignoring him entirely as she tossed the note onto the bed, and she looked around the room. Her gaze immediately landed on the files, and she walked over to them. Kokichi tilted his head curiously as she thumbed through.

"Who are these people?" Maki questioned.

"Who knows?" Kokichi shrugged. "Murder victims that he couldn't let go? People that he regrets that he couldn't find the killers of?"

"They were Ultimates. Like us." Maki stated as she finally stopped at one, her eyes expression changing from disinterest to horror. Before Kokichi could question it, her hands snapped the file closed, "Saihara." She muttered to herself.

"What did you find? Ooh, was it a murder victim you knew personally? Did the Ultimate Detective nearly catch the Ultimate Assassin? You should've been more careful!" Kokichi lectured.

"If you don't shut your mouth, I will shut it for you." Maki rolled her eyes at him as she stuffed the file underneath her arm. "I'm taking this with me."

"I don't get to know what's in that? You know that hiding evidence from others isn't going to make anyone look good." Kokichi stated. "You could become the blackened if we thought those files were yours, MakiRoll."

Maki didn't pay any mind to him as she walked out of the room. Kokichi watched her for a moment before looking over at the files.

Had he been wrong, and Shuichi had read the files? That wouldn't make sense. He opened the envelope and pulled the note out.

_Dear Kokichi,_

_I know, out of everyone, no one's going to expect this letter to go to you. I'm kind of hoping for that. I'm sure you're in my room, and you found the note under my pillow. If it was confusing to you, I'm sorry. Maybe you didn't know what was happening. Perhaps I was too hasty._

_I don't know who the Mastermind is, but I think you're five steps closer to figuring out than I ever was. I hope my death buys you more time. Miu was planning to use the virtual world to kill you, and I couldn't let that happen. I know that she may go through with it after all of this, but I hope that with you knowing it's around the corner, you know how to prevent it and how to get the Mastermind to step forward._

_Kaito's sick. He's not doing well. I have a terrible feeling that he's not going to survive this either. I don't know if my suicide is going to cause undue stress on him and make him worse or if this is something everyone saw coming. A depressed detective wouldn't last in a game like this, right?_

_I thought about the things you said during our free time events, Kokichi. I thought about how often you would say something and backpedal._

_Something doesn't add up._

_I don't know what you know; I can't quite place my finger on it even though I'm sure you stated it outright a few times._

_One thing that I can't get out of my head is the question you asked me about whether or not I was real._

_I thought about the flashback lights. I thought about how Angie might've had a point in smashing one. I thought about how you tried to get us to watch the motive videos together. I thought about our backstories, and how...only a few of ours makes any sort of sense._

_I can't bring myself to look at the files._

_I think I know what's inside of them. I think I know why I'm adverse to them, to my lab, to everything that's around me._

_Kokichi…_

_Don't you ever wonder if we're acting out an awful script?_

Kokichi folded the letter back into its envelope, his mind whirling around Shuichi's statements. Suicide to buy time? Why mention to him that Kaito was sick? Everyone and their mother knew that, didn't they? Unless did Kaito really think that he was doing everyone a favor by lying about it? Would there be a point in telling everyone during the trial and outing Kaito?

Shuichi knew about Miu's plan. Kokichi wondered if that was also a hint that Shuichi figured out that Kokichi was trying to use the motive as well in the virtual world. The plan was going to shatter because of the note, and Kokichi momentarily was grateful that he didn't have to use Gonta to protect himself and to buy himself time.

But that meant that Shuichi, who knew nothing of his plan, used his own life instead. The most useful character that they had in this game, gone in a snap. 

Was it because Shuichi thought he would be detrimental in the end? He was a truth seeker by nature and would throw anyone to the execution ring if he had enough evidence to support it. Did he think that he couldn't fight against his life and would protect the Mastermind? Did he think that if the Mastermind was outed, Shuichi would somehow ruin the trial and would force the game to continue? 

"You get rid of the useful players to make the game stop," Kokichi muttered as he tried to come up with motives, with reasons. Why tell him that Kaito was sick? What could there be the reason?

Did Shuichi have an idea that would help? Did he rely on Kokichi, knowing that Kaito was sick to start whatever plan he was thinking? Kokichi looked at the files on the desk, remembering that Maki took one.

Whatever was in that file, Shuichi probably had a hunch.

_I think I know what's inside of them._

Kokichi went to the files again, this time taking his time to thumb through each one. Maki took one file, but Kokichi found two just at the bottom of the stack that made everything click. Rantaro was sufficient to out as the survivor of the first game. Kokichi saw that in his second monopod that he stole not too long ago. The Mastermind, though…

"You had the keys, to begin with, Saihara-chan," Kokichi grumbled. "We could've stopped this at trial one if you weren't so stupid enough to not-"

_Acting out an awful script._

"..." Kokichi swallowed, and he looked at the door behind him. 

This could prove to be an exciting trial.

  
  


  
  
  
  
  



	16. Family (Ouma-centric)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 16: Family
> 
> A Vengeance Side Story
> 
> Kokichi gets together with the people that he thought he lost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Ouma Month for hosting this event. Thank you to everyone whose reading, subscribing, bookmarking, kudoing, and commenting on the story. I'm thrilled to write!

“You mean we’re allowed, visitors?” For whatever reason, it blew Kokichi’s mind that he was allowed outside contact. They weren’t able to leave the facility due to not knowing the extent of the damage that everyone was going through. They needed care and therapy if they were going to integrate themselves into the world that laid beyond the doors. Dangaronpa didn’t have much going for it as a franchise anymore, with Shuichi effectively calling out the corrupt undertones, and exposing them for what they were.

Using Kamukura technology like they had to try to simulate Despair, and try to bring back the Rements didn’t exactly give them good marks. Those who were truly once Rement of Despair broke the long term treaty of staying on Jabberwock and dragged the injured and the broken to the island. Kokichi could hear the waves as it bore down on the shore.

“We’re not monsters,” Hajime said, rubbing the back of his neck. It was easy to put them in the villain role, much like Kokichi could slide in and out of it as well. “...I already spoke to most of everyone here. Pekoyama, Kirigiri, and Naegi are all figuring out where you guys are from. Your group was the loudest, though, considering…”

Considering that Kokichi wasn’t the only D.I.C.E member to have entered Daganonronpa unwillingly. Kokichi had been confident that D.I.C.E was as real as the Lochness Monster. There was nothing for him to return to. Not a person, not a thing, he thought that Saihara’s last words spoken to him were the absolute truth. Now he was in this hospital room, listening to random beeping and machinery, and being told the opposite. 

“When can I meet them?” Kokichi tried to keep the eagerness down. They didn’t know this new Kokichi. The Kokichi with little to no memory of the past. He didn’t know what his past was even like. He didn’t know how much of his personality was re-written to fit Dangnaronpa’s box. Still, he wanted to know. He wanted to see. 

Hajime softly smiled, and he placed a hand on his hip. “They’re hanging around the island somewhere. It won’t take me but a minute to catch where they’re at and send them this way.”

Kokichi shrugged, “You do you.” 

Hajime nodded and walked off, and Kokichi took a moment by himself to steady his breathing. He wondered if the survivor of season 52 was still in their group. He remembered his motive video, when it said there were ten members, but only showcased 9 besides himself. The leader wasn’t to be counted, and Dangnaronpa knew that. They knew he’d notice the missing member, they knew that it would bother him more than being begged to commit a murder, and knew he wouldn’t unless Danganronpa thought they could blind him with rage.

_ He wasn’t Saihara-chan. _

The thought threw him out of the left field, and he took a breath in and out slowly. Why did it matter what Saihara would do in the game? Why would he go into Danganronpa looking for revenge? Something scratched at the surface of his mind, begging him to remember, but he was too afraid to open that Pandora’s box. He shoved it in the dark recesses of his mind. He could figure it out later.

A few hours ticked by until he heard: “Ouma-sama-san!” 

He turned away from the window to see a crowd of kids hanging out of the doorway. The girl with light brown pigtails and mismatching socks immediately ran into his room and flung herself onto his bed. Following her was the rest of them, trying to find a way to crowd him into the bed, calling his name and trying to get a chance to embrace him.

“Easy! Easy! There’s enough of me to go around.” Kokichi called as he felt himself being shoved and pushed into other’s arms. Honor practically took over the chiropractor’s job as he felt his back pop in several different locations, his wild afro hair hadn’t changed from the picture. Widow, with the side braids and a quiet demeanor, sat on the foot of his bed and rested against his legs since he had them propped up to his chest earlier. Her head comfortably resting on his knees where his cheek would lay.

Trick and Deuce were on either side of him, blonde-haired and crazy grins. Fold with a motherly embrace and lilac-colored hair. She showed a little more of her chest than appropriate but not to a Miu standard of whorish. Ouverte reached over and ruffled his hair, making the purple strands stick up even more. 

Then there was Chicane who looked so much like Saihara Kokichi had to mentally remind himself that he didn’t know where the detective was. Her fingers twitched nervously at her sides, and dark rings under her eyes from sleepless nights. Her smile could look so much like Saihara’s, Kokichi was a little breathless.

She reached and immediately grabbed his cheeks, pulling them.

“Ow! Ow! Ow!” He cried as he finally got her to stop. “Chicane-chan’s mean to me!” He cried, effectively drawing out tears from his eyes. “I’m injured and in a hospital bed! This is bullying!”

Laughter rang between each of his members, most commenting that he hadn’t changed at all. It brought him a little relief to hear it, as he wasn’t sure how to feel if he was a different person from the game and the pre-game. Chicane hugged him tightly, wrapping her arms around his neck and pushing him into the embrace. Blackberry and vanilla and were so familiar to him and foreign all at the same time. 

“I’m glad you remember me.” Chicane said quietly, “I wasn’t sure you would.”

“I may be a leader of 10,000 members, Chicane-chan, but I would hope I have everyone’s names memorized.”

“I thought it was 11,000.” Shuffle commented, putting her finger against her lips in thought.

“I don’t count.” Kokichi wondered if this was why he was insistent that there were more members. He wouldn’t let anyone be forgotten even if they weren’t pictured in his motive video, and refused to count himself in as one. 

“Of course, you count.” Shuffle snapped back. “Ouma-sama-san is the entire reason D.I.C.E is who we are!”

“Yeah! You’re the reason why we’re all together.” Deuce agreed.

“Solo-kun’s not here because it’s crowded, but he’ll be around,” Fold spoke up. “I think he got distracted by his boyfriend. Lead’s back in the hotel because he got badly sunburned. He’ll come by to visit when it’s less painful for him to walk.” 

“Who would’ve thought that was a thing.” Trick placed his hands over his head, much like Kokichi did when he was casually walking around. The Cheshire smile wasn’t out of place. Kokichi wondered where he got it from. Was it from Kokichi, or did Trick rub some of his habits off of him? 

“We did pack up and yeeted our way over here.” Deuce folded his arms.

Honor immediately grimaced. “We’re not meme-ing.”

Deuce dabbed, and everyone groaned in response.

Kokichi facepalmed, “That’s so old. That’s such a boomer move.”

“Is it too early to make a squashed grape comment?” Fold reached over and smacked Deuce across the head in response, and Kokichi snickered, feeling his heart twist. It might’ve been too soon for his family, but it was nice to hear that someone thought he was overly dramatic. 

Grape. Kokichi wrinkled his nose, he doubted he’d see the same color or flavor the same way ever again. 

“How are you feeling, Ouma-kun?” Ouverte asked, his soft voice breaking through the babble of white noise. The question caused the conversation to cease. The members of D.I.C.E looked to Kokichi as though they were waiting for an answer. 

“I’m bored out of my mind!” Kokichi decided that there was no reason to lie to them. “I don’t get to leave, and I’m monitored and ugh. It’s so, fucking boring.”

“At least you’re bouncing off the walls.” Shuffle looked relieved. “We’ll try to find things for you to do. Hey! Did we all bring our Switches?”

“I packed everyone’s, and I know Solo has about four somewhere stashed.” Honor nodded. 

“Then it’s settled! We’ll have a Smash contest! We’ll stay until we’re kicked out.” Shuffle punched the air with her fist, her pigtails flying around her with her energy. “Whether it’s Ouma-sama-san or Tsumiki-chan-san.”

Kokichi felt as though there was someone else that was missing in their group that would’ve liked to play, but for the life of him, he couldn’t put his finger on it. Shuffle already named the people that weren’t there and explained where they were. Had he been thinking of Solo’s boyfriend? “Then it’s settled.” Kokichi nodded, deciding to push his thoughts away. No time to dwell on it. “You’ll entertain me until I get bored with you, and then it’s off with your heads!”

“Queen of Hearts much?” Chicane teased.

“Excuse you, I’m the King of D.I.C.E!” 

“More like the king of horses. We saw that horse head.” Deuce mocked.

The group laughed again, and Kokichi closed his eyes as he let the conversations  _ go over him, interjecting when he could. He was happy that he had his family back.  _

_ I’m not alone. _

_ Not at all.  _


	17. Determination (Ouma-centric)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 17: Determination
> 
> Kokichi looked at the motive video and realized all at once that he was being played.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for Ouma Month for hosting this event. Thank you to everyone who subscribed, kudos, commented, and bookmarked the story. I'm grateful that you all have read and enjoyed it thus far. I hope you continue to support me.

Kokichi flung the motive video as hard as he could across the lab as he sat down slowly and placed his hands against his head. D.I.C.E didn't want fucking murder. They wouldn't beg for it. It scared him to think that they were in a jail cell somewhere, wondering where he was when he was in this stupid game that wouldn't let him get out. He slowly brought his hands off of his face, and he shook his head.

D.I.C.E wouldn't let themselves get captured that easily. Sure there were close calls with the police, and there were times they were thrown into a civil court considering that they liked to vandalize buildings, but it would never wind up like this. Ouverte and Honor wouldn't let the younger members get hurt. Honor would have been roughed up more through the video. Ouverte would have had his hands roughed and knuckles bleeding. 

Lead and Trick and Deuce wouldn't be in the cell at all. Trick was too slippery for people to catch. After what happened to Chicane, they all traveled in pairs, and not a single person would be without the other. Deuce would've given a problematic chase, making sure that whoever was trying to catch them had a hard time. Lead? Lead barely left his home besides to go to work or to go to school or to go home. He never deviated from that routine. They wouldn't have taken him unawares. 

The girls-the girls worried Kokichi the most. Fold who worked at a hostess club always came home late. She never walked without a phone in her hand and letting people know where she was. She dropped out of school, so she had no friends besides D.I.C.E to look out for her. She would've told them instantly if someone was following her around.

Widow and Shuffle, the two who were the closest to Chicane, wouldn't have gotten captured either. Widow wouldn't let it happen, and Shuffle knew how to defend herself. She took lessons in self-defense just so that she nor anyone would wind up like Chicane. They wouldn't lose another member ever again. 

Yet, the motive video mocked Kokichi, telling him that the best-laid plans were doomed to fail. Kokichi blinked as he thought back to his friends and all the reasons why capture didn't make sense. He looked over at where the motive video laid on the floor, staring upright. Kokichi's fingers twitched as his stomach churned. 

He roughly got himself up and went to the screen. He picked it up and turned it back one, re-watching the video.

It was strange.

Too strange.

The audio files sounded spliced, as though they had been listening to conversations and decided to piece them together to make it seem as though they were there. The photos looked wrong, as well. The personality of Kokichi's friends didn't shine through. They stood precisely how they would stand in that situation, but there were little things that were missing. The masks

They wouldn't be wearing the masks.

Not only that, but the video declared that there were ten members and that the tenth member was someone that Kokichi needed to be worried about. It made his heart drop, and he pursed his lips as he thought about what that could mean. They didn't know Chicane's whereabouts. They didn't have a lead- 

-until now.

If Rantaro had been alive still, would the survivor know her? Had she played this game before? What was it about this game that felt incredibly wrong? The motive video was beginning to sound like an ad-libbed script.

D.I.C.E was supposed to be the motive for Kokichi to murder, but Kokichi doubted the game thought far ahead. Giving him his friends, and lying about what they would say, as well as their location, didn't do anything to him besides to get angry. To hint that their missing friend might've been a part of this too, Kokichi gnawed on his lip.

There may be no surviving this game. Kokichi was going to make sure that none of his friends -or anyone else in the entire world- would have to go through this. He was going to end Danganronpa.

He'd leave the Mastermind to Shuichi. It was only fair.


	18. The Mage and the Imp (Oumeno)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 18: Fairy-Tale AU/Magic/Colors
> 
> The Kingdom of Hope's Peak lost all of its colors! Can a Prankish Imp help?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for OumaMonth for hosting this event. Thank you to those who have subscribed, kudos, bookmarked, read, and commented on my story. I sincerely appreciate it.
> 
> I decided to do a style change with this as fairytales are normally short, easy to read with a simplistic plot. I wanted to try writing it in a traditional manner. It may have fallen flat and I may re-write depending on everyone's viewpoint of the story. So please, let me know if you'd rather read a more complicated plot, or if you liked the change. Thank you so much for your criticism and your advice. I appreciate it.

Once upon a time, there lived a Colorful Mage who resided in the Hope’s Peak Castle. Her magic was said to bring color and joy to anyone who was around. She was offered a place as the castle’s magician to keep the hope and happiness alive, and she accepted without a second thought. The Mage used her magic all the time, bringing people joy and color. She never turned down a request for someone to see her charm or her happiness.

One day, all of the colors were sucked out of the Kingdom, turning it into a monochrome black and white. The people inside of the castle were dumbstruck, uncertain of what to do. “Maybe she lost her magic stick,” the castle’s Detective mused.

“No, no, it can’t be that! She just ran out of mana. She’ll be fine.” The castle’s Strongwoman tried to assure.

“What like she’s some sort of computer geek? Why didn’t we just program colors in my robot if that’s the case?” The castle’s Inventor proclaimed.

“All we got to do is ask her what she needs to bring the colors back, right?” The Musician proclaimed. “So why don’t we find her and ask her directly?”

So one by one, people found the Mage who was sitting in the courtyard. Her smile was gone, and her expression bleak. No one knew what to do. The Strongwoman goes first, “I know what we can do to bring your mana up!” She told the Mage. “We’re going to train!”

“Nyeh?!” So the Strongwoman took the Mage to her dojo and trained. 

No color, not even a flicker.

“Maybe training only drains mana faster,” the Strongwoman concluded and decided not to try again.

The Inventor decided to try her hand at it, “I think I know what you need. You need to make yourself relaxed! I can make you the best “magic” stick there is!” 

The Mage was horrified by her answer, even more so by the gift. Without telling the Inventor, the Mage hid it away in a space that wouldn’t ever see daylight again. 

The color didn’t come back, not even a flicker.

“Iruma-san says that she gave you a new kind of magic stick, but I uh...I don’t think that’s what you need.” The Detective approached next, hesitant and shy. “Yumeno-san, what did you lose to give the color in the world?”

“Nyeh... it’s complicated.” The Mage answered, but she seemed to look skeptical. “I don’t think you’d believe me...even if I told you.”

“I think you should try,” the Detective encouraged.

The Mage hummed and hummed, clearly running it through her mind. “The Strongwoman’s not wrong; I don’t have any mana left. I can’t bring a spark to my fingertips. I’m cold, and I’m tired all the time. It’s hard even to smile anymore. I’m sorry that I’m such a useless mage.”

“You’re not useless; we’ll just have to figure out a way to bring the mana back.” The Detective assured.

Meanwhile, an Imp was listening in to the conversation, surprised to hear that mana could be depleted. The Imp was a mischievous sort that wasn’t allowed in Castle Walls. Without the use of mana or colors, the Imp was free to do as he pleased. He watched the Detective leave the Mage, clearly going to call for a council to see what they could do to bring the mana back.

The Imp looked at the downtrodden Mage and found himself bored. He walked over to her and blew a raspberry in her ear.

The Mage shrieked, and she turned around, glaring at the Imp. “Who are you, and how did you get in?” She demanded. “You don’t belong here.”

“Do I not belong here?” The Imp echoed. “You’re the one that called me, Ms. Mage of Color. Not that you’re doing anything colorful anymore. You’re sulking around and not doing anything. Boring, boring.”

“What do you mean I called you? I don’t have any mana to summon color, let alone you.” The Mage frowned, ignoring the rest of his statements.

The Imp burst into tears, water falling down his cheeks. “I can’t believe Mage-Chan is so mean to me!” He wailed. “She calls me then forgets about me?! What an awful master I have!”

“Sh sh sh!” The Mage hurriedly tried to quieten his tears, “You’re such a pain.” She frowned deeply at him. “All of this...is just a pain.”

“Is it?” The Imp questioned, tears dried as though they weren’t there. “What exactly is a pain?”

“Summoning you without knowing. Everyone is coming up to me and asking me what they can do to fix me.” The Mage frowned, bringing her legs up to her chin. “I’m only useful to them when I bring color and happiness. Now that I can’t even do that for myself, I’m useless.”

“I didn’t hear them call you that.” The Imp frowned. “So, you must be calling yourself that.”

“They have to be thinking about it.”

“Wow! I didn’t know that Mage-chan was a mind-reader too! Hey, hey, can you read my mind? Do you know what I’m thinking?!” The Imp asked, looking excited.

The Mage just stared for a little bit before she shrugged, “Probably how boring I am.”

“Ding ding ding! You win the prize! You are boring right now. Super boring.” The Imp proclaimed, and he watched her curl tighter into a ball. He sat down across from her. The Mage looked up to see that he had magicked a flower into his hand, no color to grace it but white.

“You’re insulting me.” The Mage frowned but widened her eyes in surprise when the Imp tucked the flower into her hair. “I told you I can’t even do a simple color spell right now.”

“Who said flowers had to have color to be enjoyed?” The Imp replied as he started to make a chain. “Maybe you’re the boring one after all for not having any imagination.” He set the magicked crown on her head, and he grinned. “Ta-da!”

“I...still have no mana.” The Mage wondered what it was that the crown was supposed to accomplish.

“Who said that I was granting you that too? You assume a lot Mage-chan. You don’t need to worry your pretty little head over petty little matters.” The Imp said as he flung himself against the grass next to her. “Lay down with me.”

“Nyeh?” The Mage was curious and so laid down next to him.

For the next few minutes, they gazed upon the clouds, talking about what the formations were to them. Finally, the Mage spoke up, “Why are you here, Imp?”

“Can’t I just be here?” The Imp asked in return. “Mage-chan worries so much about whether or not she’s helpful to people that she forgot she’s a person too. You think that people won’t love you because you can’t do magic anymore.”

“Isn’t that the case? I’m sure the whole Kingdom is debating what to do with me right now.” The Mage frowned at him.

“I’m not there, so it’s not the whole kingdom.” The Imp returned. “Look where I am, Mage-chan.”

“You think I’m boring.”

“Boring doesn’t mean bad.” The Imp responded. “It just means what it means.”

“I don’t get it…”

The Imp sighed dramatically. “You’re in pain, Mage-chan. While we don’t know what to do to help or make you smile, we can do this.”

“Nyeh?”

“So quit looking so lost and tell me whether or not that cloud looks like it’s a shark eating a bear.”

“I think it looks more like a star,” a familiar voice of the Detective said as he laid down next to them.

The Mage stared in shock.

“I think it looks someone’s getting vored,” the enthusiastic reply of the Inventor proclaimed.

“I think it’s just a cloud,” the Strongwoman beamed as she laid next to the Mage.

“We’re here for you.” The Musician added as she laid down behind the Mage. “We love you, and until you’re feeling better, we can live in black and white. We don’t need color to love you.”

“See?!” The Imp replied mischievously. “I told you, Mage-chan!”

A few days later, the colors of the Kingdom came back with rainbow intensity, and everyone rejoiced. The Mage will continue to have days and weeks where mana and color would disappear. During those days, the prankish Imp and the Kingdom who loved her will sit by her. They would watch the clouds roll by, and wordlessly remind her of their friendship and love. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus Scene  
> \-----------------  
> Kokichi looked over his shoulder to see that his little girl was fast asleep, her cheek resting against his arm. Her plum-black hair fanned out on the pillow, and her lips gently pressed against her thumb, much like Himiko's did when she napped at school. Kokichi carefully removed himself from his little girl so he could fold the story that he wrote and place it on the bedside table. Maybe he shouldn't have gone too far with Miu's character, but it was hard to tone the Inventor down. Besides, it wasn't as though the little one was questioning it yet. He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead and gently brought the blankets over her body, tucking her in. 
> 
> "Goodnight, little Imp." He whispered as he quietly snuck out of her room, turning the light off and closing the door behind him with a click. Now to check on the Colorful Mage, who was most likely asleep waiting for him to get done with storytime.


	19. Bittersweet (Ouma-Centric/DICE-centric )

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 19: Ghost AU/Regret/Loss
> 
> Kokichi listens in as his friends tell Shuichi stories of how they met the Supreme Leader, and what the detective means to them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for OumaMonth for hosting this event. Thank you to those who have subscribed, kudos, commented and bookmarked the story. I appreciate every single one you give.

The afterlife was a little strange, no pearly gates of heaven, no fire pits of hell. No peace of mind, but also no pain accompanied it. It was as if he just woke up and was once more attached to the earthly realm. Kokichi could understand why. He was at peace with the thought of stopping the game, but he was leaving behind those who needed him the most. He had to figure out if that was a lie or not if the motive video had any grain of truth in it. 

Danganronpa wasn’t a big named national television show; Kokichi came to learn as he wandered through the streets. He liked the thought that he could fast travel by phasing through walls and things. He also liked that he could knock things over, just to cause some trouble and some excitement to the store’s establishment. He wanted to know the physical limitations of his new ghostly abilities, so he practiced.

He got very good at blowing all the cupboard doors open all at once. Whoever lived in the apartment building freaked out, and Kokichi laughed. It was a shame he couldn’t show this trick to any of his members. His thought stopped, and he pursed his lips, reminding himself that he needed to find them. He needed to know. He wandered away from the trouble-making and headed deeper into the city.

Now that he thought about it, one of his members was presumed to be lost. Wouldn’t she be a ghost too? Kokichi wondered if she was, and they hadn’t run into each other yet. He pondered if the afterlife was a thing, and Kokichi was held back because of all the regrets he had in his life. Regret that he wasn’t able to protect his friends regret that he wouldn’t see D.I.C.E. Regret that he wouldn’t survive, for using Gonta and Miu. There were plenty of reasons why neither area would want to take him.

There were plenty of reasons why Kokichi deserved to suffer like this. 

Kokichi tried to comb through the city often, trying to figure out where his friends could be. He thought maybe they lived in Tokyo, but perhaps they were in a different prefecture? Kokichi didn’t have to worry about money or traveling. He didn’t have to get hungry or thirsty either. He could go all around Japan if he wanted, and Kokichi was about to do so when he had a sudden bitter thought run through his mind.

There was one place he didn’t check.

He found himself in front of a memorial of the Killing Game’s victims. The statue was nothing more than a pillar of names that stood. The monument was placed in the middle of the cemetery and took out a good few plots others could’ve used to bury their dead. The names were etched into the stone, as though the carving wouldn’t wear away by time. 

It was thoughtful people who left gifts of flowers and toys and balloons. He saw many parents come up to the memorial, tear-streaked and heartbroken. He saw Kaito’s grandparents, and he wished he could tell them that their grandson did the best that he could. He wondered if the virus was real, or if it was made just for the game. 

A group of kids showed up not too long after that, and Kokichi felt a tug of instant familiarity. They wore the same straightjacket and pants that Kokichi wore in the game. The difference was that they all chose to wear the scarf differently. They brought flowers, grape soda, and a picnic. They even brought a boombox, and Kokichi laughed when he heard Vocaloid music immediately ring through. 

The music gathered another surprising person to the mix too. Kokichi was enjoying the laughter and the games that they were playing. Every once in a while, he tried to mix the cards up or nudge the dice so another member would lose when he heard a soft, “You’re...D.I.C.E.”

All of them looked up, and Kokichi wished that he was in his human body. He felt as though his mouth went dry at the sight of him. Shuichi had a bouquet of many different kinds of flowers and a shy smile on his face. “What? You thought we weren’t real too?” Fold asked, leaning forward. Shuichi gave her a sympathetic smile, and she returned it. “Come. Sit with us.”

“I...shouldn’t. This is your time. I just wanted to bring some flowers for everyone…” Shuichi trailed off.

“Leader liked you for whatever reason, so we want to know who you are too.” Trick spoke up, his arms linked behind his head in a Kokichi-fashion. His smile was natural and gentle, as though he could coax the stammering detective into sitting with them. “Come on. You’re curious too.”

“I uh, I admit that I am, but wouldn’t um wouldn’t this be rude?” Shuichi asked as he set the flowers down at the base. The group immediately shifted to make room, as though he was part of the group from a long time ago.

“Rude? Nah. We’ve done this before.” Trick continued. “So. You want to know about us, right?” He looked at the group, and Kokichi tilted his head curiously. Was it going to be storytime?

“Let’s see...should we get rid of the shock factor of our leader being the second victim of the killing game from our group?” Shuffle asked, pressing a finger against her cheek. 

Shuichi stared at her before clearing his throat, “I um...I figured that when I saw the motive video. There were nine of you, but the video mentioned ten. I um I thought at first that it was counting Ouma-kun.”

“Chi-chan would do that though, count Ouma-kun.” Chicane. Kokichi looked around the memorial. He was the only ghost here. Unless spirits couldn’t see other ghosts, how fucked up and weird would that be? He’d never know if someone was haunting him. 

“Pretty sure no would bother to haunt you.”

Kokichi felt his heart stop in his chest, and he turned around and saw that Chicane was sitting up on top of the memorial tower. Her blue hair was freely dancing in the wind, and she looked so much like Shuichi, Kokichi had to blink a little. She waved at him, and she pressed a finger against her mouth. He supposed he could give her the chatty silence. He looked at his group. 

He wondered what kind of stories they’d share with Shuichi anyway.

“How did you all become D.I.C.E? What does it even stand for?” Shuichi decided to start the line of questions.

“Oh, we’re not telling you that!” Shuffle exclaimed, her pigtails nearly hitting her in her face as she launched herself forward. “You don’t get to know what D.I.C.E stands for. Not at all! Besides, you already know what it stands for; you just haven’t put it together yet.” 

“I don’t remember giving Saihara-chan such a big hint like that before,” Kokichi commented. It felt weird to talk; he wasn’t sure if he should be able to. His voice didn’t sound right in his throat. It wobbled and resonated as though he were speaking from far away.

Chicane merely giggled from her spot, swinging her legs and not caring that they were going through the tower.

“Do I get to know you guys became a group?” Shuichi tried.

The group looked amongst each other, and Kokichi tilted his head slightly. He wondered if they were going to drive Shuichi up the wall with the newest mystery. Shuffle spoke, “What background did you find out about Kokichi?”

“I didn’t find out much, but I was lead to believe that he was an orphan.” Shuichi curled his finger against his chin. Kokichi wondered when he started to miss the little things that Shuichi could do. He pondered on when he missed hearing Shuichi’s voice and longed for him to keep talking as much as his group would allow. “So I’m also lead to believe that most of you were from the orphanage too.”

“I mean…” Lead was the one who spoke, carefully pushing the hair that covered his eye away. It was just a glimpse, but there was scaring that was just below the socket. Kokichi felt his stomach twist angrily. He still wanted to get his hands on whoever it was that damaged Lead’s eye like that. “You’re kinda close.”

“Not close enough though,” Honor replied, folding his arms. His afro-like hair bounced a little as he nodded solemnly. “Should we go around in a circle? Or do we want to do it in order of actually meeting him?”

“If we do it in order of meeting him,” Fold pointed at Shuffle. “Then, that means Shuffle-chan has to go first.”

Shuffle’s eyes sparkled, and her hands immediately clenched into fists as she leaned forward. “Can I?! Can I?!”

“Well if you’re not too-”

“Yay! Okay Saihara-chan-san-”

“Wha-what?” Shuichi was taken aback by the usage, and Kokichi burst into laughter. 

“I forgot she gives two sometimes,” Chicane spoke from her spot. Kokichi looked up just in time to see her jump down fearlessly. She landed as though she were nothing but a feather steadily falling to the ground. She barely had to bend her knees to prevent the shock going through her legs.

Shuffle continued as though she wasn’t interrupted. “Ouma-sama-san found me when I was small. He was ten, I think? I was about eight. I ran away from home, and I was from a different prefecture as well. I had no idea what I was doing in a big city like this, and I was terrified. I hid a lot in alleyways, and I stole food when I could. I got really good at pickpocketing so that I could have something to eat and drink. Honestly, I preferred that over going back home. Home was not a word I’d use to describe it.”

She looked straight at Kokichi, and for a brief moment, he wondered if she could see him. “Ouma-sama-san found me hiding behind a dumpster. I had just gotten out of a beating. A group of kids that thought I was encroaching on their territory. He took one look at me and just...dragged me to his apartment. No questions asked. He threw me literally into the bathroom and told me to toss my clothes out in the hallway. He gave me his clothes to wear and helped bandage my wounds. He told me I was staying, and that was that. I wasn’t allowed to go into the alleyways again. I tried to sneak out a few times because I thought I was a burden, but he’d always catch me. I don’t mean like in person. I mean, he once set up a trap of a water bucket on a door. I didn’t see it, and it fell on me during the middle of the night. He thought it was funny.”

“What about his parents? Did they care?” Shuichi questioned.

“What parents?” Everyone echoed together, and Shuichi stared, horrified.

Shuffle suddenly softened, “No, actually, we’re wrong.”

“Wrong? How? No one cared.” Fold frowned.

“No! I mean…” Shuffle looked at Shuichi. “Your Aunt and Uncle knew us, knew him. So I guess in a way that was his parents. Your Uncle used to arrest us a lot for petty crimes.”

“So him telling us that he’s been on trial before wasn’t a lie.” Shuichi mused, covering his mouth with his hand. He thought about it for a moment and then turned to Shuffle. “Wait a minute. My Uncle arrested him?”

“Okay, so...before your Uncle, we used to get caught by another sort of police officer that tried to take us out of the situation and put us into homes. We didn’t agree to that, and we caused um mayhem in the best sense of the word. Your Uncle was a godsend. I guess he heard the racket. Maybe he just heard about a group of teens causing trouble. Anyway, he acted as though Ouma-sama-san was his and that we were friends and that our parents weren’t showing up because they asked him too. It was a deliberate song and dance. We needed to play the part well. You could say your Uncle lying to cover for us was what made Ouma-sama-san respect detectives the most.” Shuffle explained.

“Using that logic, though, wouldn’t I have known him? I didn’t meet him until the game.” Shuichi’s cheek had a bead of nervous sweat going down his face. 

“...Blackout lights are wonderful, aren’t they.” Solo spoke up from the back of the group. He was quiet enough to make everyone overlook him, but he had the presence of a lone-wolf. He looked younger than he was.

He looked older than he should be too.

Shuichi clamped his mouth shut, clearly knowing that was true. Who knew what memories were erased. 

“So anyway, that’s my story.” Shuffle concluded. “Next up…” She looked right at Trick and Deuce. “You two.”

The blonde siblings looked at each other and shrugged. “We’re tag artists.” Deuce finally spoke up, pushing his blonde hair away from his face. Kokichi noticed a fading bruise on his cheek and red hand marks around his neck. He didn’t miss the way Shuichi’s eyes focused in on the injuries as well. Kokichi felt a jolt of anger that he couldn’t protect his friends anymore.

He couldn’t save Deuce and Trick.

“My brother and I like to vandalize things for fun. We weren’t good at it at first. We just sprayed color and called it good. Then we started to practice and learn.” Deuce explained. “I think Ouma-kun and Shuffle-chan met us when we were fourteen.” 

“Yep! That was when the ball started to go. Anyway, he liked the art and thought that we could do something with it. Nowadays, we draw things for the kids who are stuck in hospitals, or we draw memes to drive other gang members up the wall when they see that we drew over their symbols and stuff. We’re not exactly quiet about it. Made more than a few good enemies.” Trick added.

Deuce picked up the story from there, “Our family life isn’t stellar, but we crash at his apartment or the Hideout when our parents get to be too bad. We don’t have the means to leave, but we were hoping that…”

“It looks like we’re leaving.” Trick looked at the ground. “Now that...two members are gone...even though it means one empty bed, we’re leaving and staying at the Hideout.”

“I’ll be moving out of the Hideout soon anyway, so it won’t be for long,” Ouverte spoke up, his voice a deep baritone. 

Shuichi seemed to want to grip on to these stories. Kokichi didn’t miss how he eagerly listened to every word and was holding on to them. “Why mister detective is still so interested in a dead person anyway?” Kokichi muttered to himself, biting his thumbnail. “This should be boring to you.”

“Is it?” Chicane questioned, her hands clasped behind her back as she tilted her head. “I didn’t get the privilege to hear these stories either.”

“No?” Kokichi blinked at her. “For a member of my group, I would’ve thought we’d told you this by now.”

“I never pried.” Chicane’s smile faded slightly on her lips. “These weren’t stories I was allowed to ask. Maybe I was, and I just was a coward to try. I was never good at reaching for people. Shuichi-kun, despite his nervous and shy nature, was better at making friends than I was. I tended to...just let things be.”

“Then, he met me.” Honor spoke up. “Well, he met Ouverte and me.” He reached over and punched the bigger man in the arm. “We’re kind of the outcasts here. We were older teens when Ouma-kun met us. He had a habit of getting beat up sometimes by some of the local bullies, and we happened to walk the same way to go to school, so we jumped in a lot. Being bigger meant that we could scare off whoever was trying to hurt Ouma-kun. The inside joke and the reason why we got our names is that we’re dubbed Ouma-kun’s bodyguards. I was given the second in command position after Ouverte, and I graduated from high school and decided to rent a house.”

“We asked the kids if they needed a home. At first, they were stubborn about living with us, but as more of us showed up, the more appealing it was to have a getaway.” Ouverte spoke quietly. “Fold and Lead were right behind us, and they were suffering.”

Fold brushed her hair away from her face, “You can say it, Ouverte-kun. I worked on the streets.”

Kokichi felt a lump in his throat; he remembered seeing her in the different districts. He remembered seeing her coming in and out of love hotels, looking more beaten and ragged than she should’ve. He was a kid; he didn’t know what he was getting himself into.

“He came up to me once, and I thought he was a little young to be a customer, and I was freaking out.” Fold explained. “He dragged me to the Hideout and handed me a stack of job applications. He told me that I was under his protection now, and he wasn’t going to have some kid working as a whore. Admittedly I suppose being a Hostess is only one step up, but it was a little more respectable than what I was doing.” Fold admitted. “I was...god...sixteen.”

“Sixteen.” Lead nodded his head slowly. “I was working three jobs at the time trying to make ends meet. I heard what he did for Miho-chan, and was just like an easy transfer. I was able to widdle myself down to two jobs, and I was able to help support the Hideout. Ouma-kun I suppose knew we were a package deal or knew that siblings shouldn’t be separated. Whatever the case was, he took us in too.”

Shuichi seemed to chew on the stories thoughtfully, his hand still cupped around his mouth as he listened. Chicane hadn’t said a word as she rocked back and forth on her feet. Meanwhile, Kokichi’s mind was going a thousand miles a minute. He was the entire reason the group was even holding on. What was going to happen to D.I.C.E now? He wasn’t going to be there anymore. Would Fold quit her job and go back to being on the streets? Would everyone return to the home lives that they ran away from? He prayed that Trick and Deuce would go the Hideout, but he worried about Ouverte’s moving out. The house would be crowded, but they’d all still be together.

They needed to be together.

“Widow’s story is...simple. Ouma-kun didn’t find her. She found us.” Shuffle reached over to the girl with the side-braid who hadn’t spoken through the entire exchange. Widow nodded a few times in agreement. “She just appeared on our doorstep one day, and we just took her in. She could scare Ouma-sama-san easily because she was so quiet and would just appear randomly around the house. We thought about calling her Ninja, but Ouma-sama-san wanted to stick with the theme.”

“Theme?” Shuichi asked his smile a little confused. “What theme? Your names?”

“Yep! Oh...you don’t remember. What do our names all have in common?” Shuffle asked, looking excited.

Kokichi grinned, “Yeah, detective, what do their names have in common?” He echoed the statement back. “...Well, I wouldn’t blame you don’t get it. Mister Detective is a bit of a stick in the mud. I wouldn’t doubt he knows what a card game is if it danced naked in front of him.”

Chicane snorted.

“You’re...playing card terms,” Shuichi said slowly. “Somehow.”

“Yep! We’re terms you use when you play different games. Shuffle the deck, so on and so forth. The terms aren’t used outside of play often, though, so...hence the code names.” Shuffle grinned. “Nicely done. What gave it away?”

“Ouma-kun liked to play games. So you would have a game theme to your names somehow. It took me a bit, but..” he gave a sympathetic smile to Shuffle. “Your name and Fold-san’s name gave you away.”

“Yeah, we’re pretty obvious. But don’t think we didn’t earn the names.” Shuffle huffed, folding her arms and turning her nose up in the air dramatically. 

“So then... wouldn’t that make you the last member?” Shuichi questioned, looking at Solo.

“We met at school.” Solo said slowly, taking his time with his words. Kokichi remembered how hard it had been to get him even to talk. Widow had her problems with speaking, but Solo kept everyone at a distance. “I don’t have a bad home life—just a nonexistent one. Ouma-kun tends to keep me company at my apartment when he wants time away from the Hideout. I like to live by myself, so I stay isolated.” He paused, looking at the ground for a moment. “...It was my biggest mistake.”

“Solo-kun…” Shuffle whispered. “No...don’t…”

“...” Solo’s teeth gently scraped at his bottom lip, and he looked at the memorial tower. “You know that saying you don’t know what you have until it’s gone? Until you realize that it’s never coming back?”

Shuichi nodded slowly.

“When you and Chicane-chan came into the picture, it was as though we finally found our missing puzzle pieces. You weren’t exactly thrilled to be apart of a prank-group. You liked to be in the shadows a lot. Chicane-chan...she lived for it. She wanted to be something someone other than a detective’s daughter. We gave her an outlet.” Solo continued. “She wanted to be a guitarist. She busked a lot around the streets. That’s not to say you guys had a bad home life; you were the second home that Ouma-kun needed. You provided a family that we couldn’t. A mother figure and a father figure for all of us, even if we were too old for it.”

Ouverte and Honor nodded solemnly in the background.

“Solo-kun…” Shuffle’s voice broke a little. “Chi-chan would understand. She’d understand.”

“Understand?” Kokichi echoed.

Chicane didn’t answer, and Shuichi spoke up. “Was...Chicane-san...someone related to me?”

“You didn’t know? Oh, wait, we’ve been using code names this entire time. Of course, you don’t know.” Shuffle smacked herself in the forehead. “Chicane-chan was Aki...in the killing game, we called her Mayumi.”

“You were related to Saihara-chan.” Kokichi realized, now understanding why she looked so much like Shuichi.

“Which is why they didn’t show me in the motive video. If Shuichi-kun figured my mystery out, the whole game would’ve fallen apart faster. They left the files in his room, though, I suppose just to see if he’d break over everyone’s cause of death and why the survivors played the game again.” Chicane mused thoughtfully.

“You lost two people to the game too.” Shuffle concluded. “Just like we did…”

“I didn’t understand Ouma-kun.” Shuichi frowned, “And you’re telling me that I knew him. I don’t…”

“It’s okay. Blackout lights were a thing.” Solo sighed softly. “Blackout lights were a thing.”

The silence that echoed between them stayed for a moment until Honor spoke up, “You’re still apart of us, Saihara-kun. We may have lost our Leader and our team member, but we still will welcome you as one of us. You’re still apart of D.I.C.E.”

“Thank you.” Shuichi’s shoulders relaxed a little, and he looked at the memorial before turning his attention back to D.I.C.E. “For letting me come back. I have to decline, though. I don’t think this group is for me. I’ll be happy to remain as your friend.”

“That’s all we want.” Shuffle reached over and hugged Shuichi, and then the dogpile started without warning, forcing Shuichi to laugh and try to squirm out of the eight embraces. 

“Shall we go?” Chicane asked quietly. “There’s nothing we can do now... they’re going to be okay.”

Kokichi wasn’t sure. Should he leave and let his members try to survive without him? Was there a way to stick around as a ghost and try to help? He looked at Chicane, and he noticed that she wasn’t trying to convince him to choose either way. He looked back at the group and sighed softly. “They’re going to be so dumb without me.”

“That’s true. But Shuichi-kun’s with them. Even if he’s not a member that he used to be, he can still be their brain cell. You don’t think he’d let them get into trouble, do you?” Chicane questioned.

“Ugh, I never thought that the detective would take over my group! The travesty.” Kokichi grumbled, “You better take care of my people, Saihara-chan! I’ll kick you in the knees if you don’t.” 

“Let’s go.” Chicane laughed. “Before you come up with something more creative than that.”

“I’ll feed you to the alligators!”

“Yes, yes….”

Shuichi finally managed to squirm out of the hold, and he felt a soft breeze at the back of his neck. He turned to see who it was behind him but saw no one was there.

_ Nishishishi! _


	20. Confessions (Oumaede)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 20: Salmon Mode AU/Appreciation/Leisure
> 
> Kaede has a date ticket that she wants to spend, and Kokichi's shocked to find that she'll spend it on him. Cue tea parties, and a conversation on what it means to be the Ultimate Leader.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for Ouma Month for hosting this event. Thank you to those who have read, subscribed, kudos, bookmarked, and commented on my works. I deeply appreciate you.

“Hey, Ouma-kun! Wait!”

Kokichi stopped in his tracks and turned towards the voice. “Kayaday?” The piano girl was bent over her knees, breathing heavily. She must’ve run the moment she saw him in the courtyard and thought that he was going to take off in an impromptu chase. Not that it wouldn’t be fun or anything, but he liked to have reasons before he took off running. Which, of course, made his shoulders tense as he listened for anything happening in the background. “What’s this? I’m impressed you’re brave enough to approach me! I could easily have you killed and fed to the nearest alligator for your arrogance!”

Kaede rolled her eyes fondly before producing a date ticket from her skirt pocket. Immediately, the expression turned blank. While Kokichi didn’t do a whole lot in the dating game, he was still baffled as to why a bunch of teens managed to get trapped into one. There could be nothing more annoying than watching people fall in love and date. “Go out with me today.”

“Are you sure you shouldn’t be saving that ticket for a certain detective boy?” Kokichi asked, looking at his nails, trying to stall for time. She had to be mistaken. No one in their right mind went after Kokichi willingly. He still had a substantial amount of date tickets that were going unused unless he needed to get close to his victim for a prank. Rantaro was the only one so far that didn’t seem to fall for anything. Too much of a big brother like Kokichi was to appreciate the pranks. Not that Kokichi didn’t try. 

Kaede’s cheeks flushed a bright pink. The crush was obvious enough that space idiot and the killer girl knew, which was saying something. Kaito could look at an alien dead in the face and think that they were a new student. Hell, he treated K1-B0 like a human more than the robot he was. “Saihara-kun is with Shinguji-kun right now.”

“Eh? Saihara-chan likes the creep? Jeez, did I dodge a bullet with a man with bad tastes, or is he just friends with him?” Kokichi asked as he bit his thumbnail in actual thought. There was just something about Korekiyo that drove everyone to scatter to the nearest four corners for a room. Even Kokichi couldn’t handle being around the masked creep for too long. It made him a victim of some of his best pranks and was fun to annoy at the very least. Shuichi actively liked the person, though Kokichi had to wonder if the detective knew self-preservation. It was starting to seem reckless.

“I admit they’re not the couple I would’ve thought either, but Shinguji-kun’s kind and has a good heart when you get to know him. He just likes different things about history than we do, that’s all.” Kaede beamed at Kokichi. “So what do you say? Go on a date with me, oh fearless leader?”

“Nishishi, well, you did come all this way,” Kokichi said as he took the ticket and thought about it. “Okay! We’re doing this.” He promptly reached and grabbed Kaede’s wrist and started to drag her behind him. 

“What are we doing?!” Kaede gasped, “Ouma-kun, wait!”

Kokichi didn’t listen to her as he pulled her towards the main building where the dining room was. Thankfully no one was in there now, and he gestured for her to sit down at the long table. The sunlight was streaming through the windows and catching on the greenery that somehow managed to make it inside. “It’s a tea party!”

“A...tea party?” Kaede questioned as she sat down, looking confused.

“All of the members from my organization are required to attend one, it helps with productivity,” Kokichi explained as he headed into the kitchen. “Do you care about flavor?” He asked, his voice rising to get her attention.

“Uh...not green!” Kaede swiftly declined, and Kokichi hummed his acknowledgment. It was strange for Kaede to come to him with a dating ticket, and even weirder that she hadn’t tried to get away yet. On the one hand, there could be a bet. Kokichi placed the kettle on to the stove and rummaged through the cupboards to find the tea. The other was that Kaede just wanted to hang with someone and needed the excuse. Using up a date ticket for it, though, he wondered if Kaede thought that he’d make her use one anyway. They were valuable, much like monocoins were here. To give one up just to hang felt a bit off. 

The kettle took no time to whistle in an ear-splitting shrill, and Kokichi arranged things on a tray. He was no Kirumi Tojo, but he knew how to make a decent pot. He found a box of snacks and decided just to toss the whole thing onto the tray rather than to arrange them in a neat little circle or design. He went back to the dining hall and noticed that Kaede was still there, hands tight against her lap, and tensed.

She looked at the table with a pinched brow. Kokichi wondered what exactly happened to make her turn confident to a nervous wreck. Her reaction was something he would expect out of Saihara. Kokichi set the tray down and passed Kaede a delicate-looking cup and started to pour the tea.

“I wasn’t expecting a leader to know how to make tea, wouldn’t you use one of your subordinates for it? Or Kirumi?” Kaede asked as she took the cup into her hands, watching him.

Kokichi sat down on the opposite side of the table, rocking the chair so that it would sit on its back legs, “Not sure what you’re talking about, Kayaday! Of course, I usually will have my lower lackeys serve me hand and foot. However, since they’re not here and I can only use Mom so often…” he shrugged before grinning. “But that’s a lie. A leader knows how to care for his own.”

Kaede seemed to mull that statement over.

“Hey, what do you think a leader is, Kayaday,” Kokichi asked, pressing his finger against his chin. “Are they really people that just boss people around without a thought or care about what other people are going through? I don’t like those kinds of leaders. They never get in the thick of the problem, and like their hands too clean for my liking. They prefer making problems go away, not solving them. That’s why when there’s an argument in my organization, we settle it with games.”

“Isn’t that a lie, though?” Kaede questions thoughtfully. “I mean, when I think of a leader, I’m thinking of someone that holds the group together and encourages them to do their best.”

“Well, that’s only one aspect of leadership,” Kokichi replied, looking at his nails. “You were doing your best, you know, but a leader knows when they’re the scapegoat and when to use a scapegoat to keep the peace.” He brought his hand down and took the cup from the table. He blew over the rim and sipped. “Maybe I’m lying about that.”

Kaede shook her head, “I can’t keep up with you like Saihara-kun can.”

“Saihara-chan has an advantage over you because he’s a detective, but he’s a terrible liar. Most of you are.” Kokichi replied. “Lying to yourself, though, that’s not going to fly.”

“Lying to myself?” Kaede looked up at him.

“You don’t want to be here, or at least, there’s something about being here with me that doesn’t make you comfortable.” Kokichi deadpanned. “I don’t know why you off-”

“Hold on a second! You’re jumping to conclusions.” Kaede held her hands up, interrupting him. Kokichi clicked his mouth shut and waited as she shook her head. “It’s not that I don’t want to be here, I do! I wouldn’t have given you the ticket if I didn’t.”

That felt like the truth, but then what was up with the hesitance? “Don’t tell me that Kayaday actually fell for someone like me!” Kokichi gasped dramatically, “Seriously? The Piano freak did?! It’s too bad! I’m not going to fall for that either! Who knew that Saihara-chan wanted to know about my organization so badly, he asked you to go undercover for him! Aww, what a shame. I thought he’d be more straightforward.”

Kokichi noticed that Kaede’s cheeks turned a hotter shade of pink during his tirade, but it wasn’t a type of pink that would scream shame. It was as if she were embarrassed, and she started blushing right around the time he asked if she had fallen for him. His own heart stopped beating in his chest as he felt the world enclose on them both. Kaede liked him? Did she give him the dating ticket because she actively sought out a date? 

“I don’t know why I even like you.” Kaede sighed, “You’re a liar and a thief. You drive everyone up the wall; you switch my music sheets to pop culture music…” She trailed off, and Kokichi waited patiently. “But for some reason I...enjoy that? Not the lies so much, I can live without those, but I know they’re apart of you too. I also know that you are not stealing someone’s wallet is just asking for a shooting star to fall from the sky and land in front of me. I know I’m naming all of your worst traits, but…”

“But.” Kokichi pressed, not letting her up from this. She was the one that wanted to go down this rabbit-hole. He wanted to see where she’d come out.

He wanted to know why a good girl like her fancied a liar like him.

“I don’t know what it’s like to be teased. I’m so focused on my piano and myself that I don’t get out of my head. I play a song, and instantly I know that it’s not my genre, and it’s you. Even though I get annoyed, I still play the song instead of stopping half-way through because I know you’re on the other side of the door listening. Even if it’s not much, I wanted to...impress you. Make you smile. I feel like that’s all you want too. Is to make people smile. To get people out of their heads.”

“Those are heavy assumptions without any evidence to back up your claims,” Kokichi replied, taking a slow sip of his tea, watching her. He brought his chair back to all fours. 

“When I told Saihara-kun the same thing, he told me that I was looking too hard and that all you could be were lies.” Kaede shook her head. “I don’t think that. I think the only lie you’re telling is the lie that you don’t want to get close to people. I don’t recall you telling a lie that would actively hurt someone. Kind lies. Gentle lies, but you don’t go out of your way to hurt. I’m not saying you’re a good person, Ouma-kun, but I am saying you’re more decent than you let yourself out to be.”

It was interesting how well she could read him. It was terrifying that she could get him on the nose, but Saihara was floundering around looking lost. He wondered if someone accidentally switched their talents around. With the blackout light and memory loss, it wouldn’t surprise him to find out that Shuichi was the pianist this entire time, and Kaede was the detective that he needed to watch out for. “Say you’re right. It’s awfully boring being around me now knowing that, isn’t it?”

“I find that it makes you more interesting.” Kaede immediately rejected, causing Kokichi to slip his smile off of his face. “I want to know the Kokichi you want me to know. Maybe I won’t always be able to unravel your lies, but I know now that you don’t mean them in the way everyone else makes it out to be. You’re playful and cunning. I want to get to know Ouma-kun. So I want him to get to know me as well. I...maybe I’m the one that might be boring.”

“Because you like the piano, and that’s all you do?” Kokichi asked curiously. “Who told you  _ that  _ lie, Kayaday?”

Kaede blinked, “How is it a lie when it’s true?”

“Lies can become the truth if told enough, but the true truth is always buried underneath them.” Kokichi swung the chair back onto balancing on the back legs of the chair. “I know that you try to get Shirogane-chan out of her shell. She helps you and Saihara-chan play dress up, no? Also, you talk to Amami-chan about his travels, and you’ve been reading books about boats so you can keep up with his chatter. You bug Shinguji-chan when he’s not with Saihara-chan. You and Iruma-chan get along like houses on fire, despite that she’s more vulgar than you ever be.”

“She’s charming when you get past the sexual innuendos. I think she’s just lonely.” Kaede commented thoughtfully. “I wanted to get her out of her shell a little more, but I think Keebo’s doing a much better job than I am.”

“EH!? Iruma-chan’s fucking Keeboy?!” Kokichi shouted, slamming the chair back to the ground and jumping to his feet. That was the best news he heard yet. He was going to hang that over Miu’s head for at least a decade or two. “Kayaday, you’re the best! Maybe…” He paused, thinking over her words. “We’ll see about the next date.”

“You’re...going to consider my offer?” Kaede blinked.

“...I’m not so emotionally stunted that I’ll just run off at first sight of a confession. What kind of leader would I be if I did that?” Kokichi looked at his nails impartially. “That being said, I don’t think I’d mind dating you. You could be even more fun to mess with.”

“You’re just going to use those date tickets to get something out of me, aren’t you.” Kaede sighed.

“You should’ve thought of that when you signed up to be my girlfriend. Too late. You can’t take it back now.” Kokichi grinned at her. “Wait till I tell Saihara-chan I stole you right from under him. The phantom thief strikes again!” Before Kaede could say anything, Kokichi quickly went around her and hugged her shoulders before bolting out of the dining room, calling Shuichi’s name.

“WAIT! YOU’RE LEAVING ME TO CLEAN UP AFTER YOU?! OUMA-KUN!”


	21. To The Ultimate Supreme Leader (Ouma-Centric)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 21: Birthday
> 
> Miyako wanted to make something special for the D.I.C.E's Supreme Leader's birthday. Little did she know her surprise may be in fact ruined.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for your patience as I decided to swamp myself with shipweeks and other projects for a while. I'm coming back at this with renewed energy and vigor! I hope you all enjoy! Thank you so much for OumaMonth for hosting this event. Thank you to those who have supported me, bookmarked, kudos, commented, and read my story. I appreciate every one of you.

Miyako knew that she was technically not supposed to do this, but she had to. She sat on her bottom down on the stairs and slowly moved her way down, careful for the creaks. The house had no lights turned on save for the morning that was slowly peeking over the horizon, bathing the black into blue, and trying to shove the shadows to the side. She knew that some of the members would get up super, super early for this, but she wanted to make sure that she got there  _ first _ . She didn’t want her surprise to go to waste, and she certainly didn’t want any of the boys to come to badger her for it. 

Usually, it was Yoshi who did this anymore. She didn’t mind that he did, but this was a little more important. She managed to get to the bottom of the stairs, and she stilled herself and her breath, trying to strain her ears to listen for even the slightest movement that someone was waking up. When she was confident that everyone was asleep, she slowly stood on to her feet and walked across the room. She was grateful that her lessons in sneaking around a broken home hadn’t left her yet. 

She got to the kitchen and found that she would need to turn the light on here; otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to see what she was doing. The light of the morning, while helpful, was still too dim for her, and she pouted. The lights would undoubtedly give her away. She could go up back upstairs, steal her nightlight that she never slept without, and bring it downstairs. Her gaze went to one of the outlets and blinked when she saw that there was a seashell nightlight right in the socket.

Weird, did the kitchen always have a nightlight? Why a seashell? Was it Yoshi’s? Yoshi used to live in Hokkaido, so maybe? She pursed her lips as she tilted her head, the mystery of the seashell nightlight could be solved another time. It wasn’t her business anyway. Unless it was a gift from one of Ouma’s classmates, then maybe she might want to pry and see if it meant anything.

Regardless, it was a free game since it was in the kitchen. Miyako doubted any of the members would be upset with her. She flicked it on, and she smiled when the light bathed the countertop in a gentle light. The seashell’s picture glowed with a bluish background and pink highlights. She skated over to the oven. It was turned off during the night and hidden so that no one would think to look in there. She carefully pried the door open and took the pan out, running her hand over the surface to see if the cake finally cooled. When she felt no heat coming across, she sighed in relief. Good. 

She was grateful that no one thought to peer in. Yoshi tended to make cakes for no reason at all, and so everyone’s sweet tooth would be activated if they saw it. Ouma would indubitably take a piece or two or three, especially since it was his favorite. She pulled the pan out of the oven and brought it to the countertop after shutting the door. She set it where the nightlight covered the most area so she could see. She hated being in the dark. Her eyes never adjusted right. It was the entire reason she had to rely on Aki to get her out of danger when they went and spraypainted a wall or two.

Miyako looked over at the fridge, gnawing at her lower lip. She had a feeling that if  _ this  _ survived, then  _ that  _ probably had been the sacrifice. Bracing herself to wanting to bang her head on the nearby counter, she skated to the fridge. She pried the door open, wincing as the bottles and glass clanged together as it opened. She peered in, gaze sweeping the fridge with a quick heart. 

Good! She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the bowl was still intact too. With everyone’s sweet tooth, she had been sure there would be a casualty. She quietly pulled the frosting out of the fridge and gently shut the door before heading over to the cake, humming under her breath. Now all she had to do was just frost this, find the candles, and stick it back into the oven. Nodding to herself, she hummed a soft tune as she went to reach for the spatula when she felt someone’s leg. She covered her mouth to hide a scream as she looked up from what she was doing.

Ouma was grinning a Cheshire-cat grin, “Gooooodd morning Shuffle-chan!”

“Ouma-sama-san, what are you doing up?!” Well, there went the surprise. Miyako’s shoulders slumped, “You’re supposed to be asleep.”

“I couldn’t. See, something was interesting coming from the kitchen last night, and I was so~ curious to know what it was!” Ouma jumped off of the counter, landing without a sound as he immediately started to get into her personal space, grabbing her shoulders to peek over. “Is that cake mine? Is that mine? Hey, hey, did you make a cake for me?!”

“You’re the only one in here that likes strawberry, Ouma-sama-san,” Miyako laughed as he jostled her. Well, even if the surprise didn’t work out, that was fine. She reached into the drawer again and took out two spatulas. “Now, you get to help me.”

“Whaaat? But it’s my birthday! I shouldn’t have to help you at all.” Ouma pouted as he took the spatula anyway. She shoved the bowl of chocolate frosting his direction, and she didn’t miss how his eyes lit up. 

He dipped the spatula into the frosting, and Miyako looked away only for a moment before she felt something smear across her cheek. “Ouma-sama-san!” She cried out, smacking her face. She rubbed at the spot, wondering what the hell he did and pouted when he saw it was the frosting. She dipped her fingers against the spatula and tried to reach over to do the same. Ouma snorted as he knocked her hands away, trying to battle her and keep her away from his face. She managed to get a good reach and smear some of it on the tip of his nose, but it had mostly been a lucky shot.

“If you waste all this frosting on a food fight, I’ll be agitated,” Miyako warned, laughter bubbling at the sentence. She couldn’t get too frustrated. It was his birthday, and if he wanted to have fun, she really couldn’t deny him.

“When did you become so boring?” Ouma teased but relented in the fight, dipping the spatula again and slapping it on the cake. Miyako let out a suffering sigh, the poor cake was going to suffer until eaten, wasn’t it? She decided to knock her elbows with his as she encroached on his cake territory to help  _ try _ even out the mess he was making. However, he lightly smacked her spatula back, “Nuh-uh, this is my side. Go work on your own.”

“But, it’s uneven!”

“So? What if I want to taste nothing but chocolate on this end?” Ouma countered back. “Who are you to stop me from making my bad decisions, Shuffle-chan?”

“You stopped me from making mine!”

“That’s because I’m older than you. Of course, I’m going to stop you from making bad decisions,” Kokichi swept the spatula across the cake in a dramatic flourish. 

That was true. How many times did he stop her from leaving when they were younger? How many times had he reminded her that home was with him and D.I.C.E? She softened, as she looked away, going back to her work. “Happy birthday, Kokichi,” she murmured. “And thank you for saving me for saving us.”

“Save the mushy mush,” Kokichi poked her cheek, and she looked over at him again. He wasn’t teasing; his smile was too sincere for it. “I’ll save all of you every time. I am the Ultimate Supreme Leader, after all,” he promised. “Who am I to lead without you guys to boss around? So no need to thank me.” Without another warning, he lightly poked her nose, and she scrambled to make sure there was no frosting on it. “Nishishishi!” He snickered as he went back to work.

Miyako shook her head and also went back to frosting the cake, “Still. Thank you.”


End file.
